1. One-off tidy vs regular maintenance
A garden that's been left for a year is genuinely a different scale of work to a garden visited every fortnight. The first cut, hedge cut and weed clear after a long absence often takes 2–3 times longer than the regular visits that follow. Honest gardeners separate the two and quote them differently.
Regular maintenance is also dramatically more efficient — for the same total cost across a year you typically end up with a far better-looking garden than two big rescue visits.
2. The shape of the garden
Two gardens of identical area can be wildly different jobs. Long thin lawns with mature trees, narrow side paths, awkward steps and overhanging eaves take longer than the same square-meterage of open lawn. Slopes, especially mowing them safely, also add time.
3. Hedge cutting
Hedge work is priced separately from a normal visit. The variables are length, height, thickness, species (beech is fast, conifer is slow, holly is brutal), and whether scaffolding or a tower is needed. Disposal also matters — a tall conifer can produce van-loads of arisings.
4. Lawn renovation
Scarifying, aerating, top-dressing and overseeding a tired lawn is a separate one-off job rather than part of regular mowing. It's genuinely transformative when done at the right time of year (early spring or early autumn in Fife). It's also priced honestly by hours on site, materials, and machine hire if needed.
5. Disposal
Where do the clippings, prunings and weeds go? If you have a compost bay we love it — that's often where they end up. If not, we either bag and bin via the brown bin (free, slow), or remove via van (faster, has a small disposal cost). We'll always discuss this honestly rather than quietly add removal fees later.
6. Why we don't fix-fee most jobs
Two reasons. First: gardens vary so much that fixed quotes are either built around the worst case (so you over-pay most weeks) or the best case (so the gardener cuts corners on the bad weeks). Second: it removes a useful conversation. With an hourly rate we can flex — “you asked for a 90-minute visit, we got there in 75, here's 15 minutes back to spend on the fruit cage you mentioned.”
When fixed pricing genuinely makes sense — say, “cut and shape that hedge once a year” — we're happy to give you a fixed price. We just don\'t pretend it works for everything.
7. Chemical-free working (it doesn't cost more)
We don't use synthetic herbicides or pesticides. Some people assume that means slower and more expensive. It doesn't. Mulching, hand-weeding, hot water, vinegar, and good cultural practice keep weeds under control just as well — and you don't end up with bare yellow strips along your edges. Read our full chemical-free guide.
How we quote
Come and look, free of charge. We'll tell you whether it\'s a regular-visit garden, a one-off rescue, or both. We'll give you a clear estimate of hours per visit and how often we'd recommend coming. One fair hourly rate, no contracts, no tie-ins. Cancel any time.