Gardens are serviced at least once a week. Each team has a team leader who oversees the work done in each garden. A Supervisor will be present, 80% of the time. He is responsible for keeping record of work done and of listing problems. These lists are submitted on a weekly basis; the listed problems are noted and prioritised. Basic garden maintenance consists of weeding, cutting and edging the lawn, weeding the garden Beds, raking, sweeping and trimming of small shrubs. If any additional tasks are required, we ask that e-mail requests are sent to any of the listed emails. Many of the team members do not speak first language English and this can result in misunderstandings if requests are made directly to the team.
There is no charge for the pruning of small trees, but this task must be scheduled through the Landscaping Office as it is done by a specialised team. Basic pruning of roses is done in July or August. Roses can also be fertilised and sprayed at this time at an additional cost.
Lawns and flower beds needs to be fertilised at least twice a year, in spring and autumn. Vegetable gardens are weeded, but because this is an edible produce we will not undertake pesticide applications of any sort.
Warm season lawns needs be top dressed at least every 2-3 years, depending on the lawn's exact requirements. It must be noted that this top dressing is done with a mixture of soil and compost and as such it is fairly sandy. Cool season lawns will not be top dressed as this will kill it.
It is recommended to fertilise your garden twice annually, but ideally this should be done more often. You may choose to use organic or chemical fertiliser. Please remember that chemical fertilisers must be watered in well. Dependent on the type of garden and plants used, flower beds can also be fertilised more often. Rent a Gardener (Pty) Ltd, incorporating Rent a Domestic prefers to use an organic fertiliser. The addition, applying compost to flower beds on an annual basis is highly recommended – this should be done in winter and spring and is best followed by an application of mulch. Mulch retains moisture and assists with weed control.
Garden styles and designs vary enormously as do the requirements of each home-owner. The garden maintenance services supplied by Rent a Gardener (Pty) Ltd, incorporating Rent a Domestic ranges between a very basic to a standard service and will not cover the needs of every garden type or home-owner. In some instances extra maintenance will be necessary. This could be on a monthly, quarterly or bi-annual basis. Please note that it is company policy that our staff are not allowed to work for you or any other third party outside of their normal working hours. This is due to a signed restraint of trade, security and company liability reasons.
If additional planting is required or an upgrade is needed for an existing garden (partial or complete), please contact the office for advice. If using an external service provider, the office must be notified regarding the planned changes to ensure that the garden maintenance is adjusted to the new landscaped garden.
If you are a dog owner, please notify our office. If your animal is aggressive, please liaise with our office regarding garden maintenance visits and to arrange for the animal to be locked away during our service calls. We also recommend that your garden and courtyard gates are kept locked to prevent any accidents. For health reasons, we ask that dog owners remove dog excrement on a daily basis. If this is not done, normal weeding and trimming will be done, but lawns will be left uncut. We offer 2 garden service options, the budget or standard garden service. You can add our executive garden care and value added services to any of these two garden service options.
