Having a garden improves your health, relieves stress, and, if you like to plant crops, helps save money from grocery shopping. However, having a garden alone does not give you these benefits unless you keep it in good shape.
Garden maintenance may be relaxing for some but a choir for others, as it includes lawn mowing, edging, weeding, trimming, pruning and a handful of other procedures. Not the most fun activities if you live a busy lifestyle, so it’s no wonder why you might be tempted to compare garden maintenance costs.
Besides all the mentioned benefits, a well-maintained garden increases your property value, so there’s that. It’s no small thing, especially here in Australia where prices rent and purchase prices have gone up. You want your property to be competitive, don’t you?
So if you:
Then read along to learn more about garden maintenance costs and how they’re formed.
Sometimes, booking gardening services can be more costly than calling a plumber or an electrician, but then again, those services don’t require aesthetics and care as much as gardening does. So, consider it an investment rather than a one-time thing. With that said, take a look at this gardening services price list.
| Service | Cost per job |
|---|---|
| Garden clearance | $220 – $1120 |
| Fertilising | $280 – $645 |
| Weeding | $180 – $880 |
| Mulching | $212 – $928 |
| Lawn mowing | $220 – $1120 |
| Lawn painting | $180 – $520 |
| Turf laying | $1050 – $2070 |
| Hedge trimming and pruning | $290 – $1280 |
| Tree trimming and pruning | $330 – $1360 |
| Ivy trimming and removal | $320 – $1200 |
| Planting flowerbeds | $220 – $1120 |
| Lawn edging | $220 – $1120 |
Hourly rates for garden maintenance differ from city to city, but that’s a given. If you happen to live in or near the following cities, expect prices close to these. Usually, the gardeners have a minimum charge, which includes the work of two hours. The minimum charge can be around $147-$180.
| City | Hourly rate |
|---|---|
| Melbourne | $70 – $90 |
| Sydney | $75 – $100 |
| Brisbane | $70 – $90 |
| Perth | $70 – $90 |
Call experienced gardeners today!
You already may have an idea of what garden maintenance includes, however now, you will learn things in detail. This is what you will get when you hire professional and fully equipped gardeners.
This service includes the removal of any kind of unnecessary green waste from your garden. Examples include fallen leaves, excessive vegetation as well as the removal of invasive species. Trimming and shaping shrubs, hedges and trees to give them a nice aesthetic appearance is also part of the services.
All the mowing and regular wear and tear can cause the grass to get stressed. After all, it is a living organism too. That’s why every once in a while, it needs nutrients in the form of fertilisers so it can heal and become stronger.
Weeds look bad, but they also deprive your other plants of much-needed nutrients and water. In the long run, your garden will suffer. But weed removal is not as easy as spraying some product on the undesired plants and them disappearing. Different kinds of weeds exist and all of them require a special approach that only experienced horticulturists can provide.
Mulch is something gardeners put on your lawn so they can improve soil aeration, minimise salt build-up, and protect your plants from pests. Not only that, but mulch also promotes vegetation growth and keeps the soil cool during summer and warm in winter, so it’s quite an important material.
Regular mowing of your grass is important for many reasons. For starters, it encourages lateral growth, which helps the grass become thicker. Keeping the grass heigh consistent is also good for the soil as it protects it from overexposure to the sun. Pests such as ticks and fleas don’t like short-cut grass as there is nowhere to hide. All in all, mowing and keeping the grass at a certain height is very important.
Hedges, no matter their age, need to be cut back, otherwise, they will become an obstacle on pavements and pathways. Then comes the visual factor. A house looks neat and welcoming when the hedges are trimmed and well shaped, while, on the other hand, you can imagine how bad a house with unkept hedges is.
Just as hedges, trees need to be trimmed both for aesthetic and health reasons. Old and dead branches become a liability as they develop diseases and become hiding places for pests. The removal of these branches stimulates the tree to grow new ones. Last but not least, a tree with too large of a crown will block out the sun, which can cause some parts of your lawn to deteriorate.
Ivy looks romantic, but it’s an invasive species, nonetheless. It takes away nutrients, sunlight and water from your other plants. When it grows around tree roots, it retains moisture and thus can cause fungal diseases to develop. All in all, it’s not too good to have around and its removal requires a professional touch.
A well-defined lawn edge provides a root barrier against invasive grasses entering the flowerbeds. Needless to say, it also looks marvellous.
Sometimes, due to extreme weather conditions or diseases the grass can become yellow or brown. In that case, it can simply be repainted with a turf colourant. The product is child and pet-friendly as it contains only bio-degradable ingredients, so you don’t need to worry about that.
Sometimes, the grass is too worn out to be repaired or repainted, and no amount of fertiliser can save it. In this case, gardeners remove the old grass completely and replace it with brand new turf that comes in rolls. They lay the rolls on the soil and connect them. Once the new grass takes hold in the soil, you can safely water and step on it.
No garden, even one with the most outstanding lawn, is truly complete without flowers. Professional gardeners can give you flowerbeds, so you can grow your own colourful flowers whenever you feel like it.
With so many services which oftentimes need to be combined, you are allowed to wonder what kind of factors influence the prices of each. Well, these are the most common:
As already mentioned earlier, different areas in Australia have different hourly rates for garden maintenance. The prices in Brisbane differ from those in Gold Coast, and prices in Perth might have nothing in common with prices in Southeast Melbourne, New South Wales, Sydney Eastern Suburbs or South West Sydney. They are different everywhere.
The bigger the property, the more time it will take the gardeners to cover it all. Not only does a larger-sized garden take longer to mow, but also requires more material if it needs to be mulched or fertilised.
Sometimes two or more services need to be combined. This takes more time and effort from the gardeners. They also need to bring more tools and equipment.
By visiting your property regularly, gardeners keep your lawn in the same shape. So, each time they visit, they will need less time to mow, trim and collect all the green waste because there’s not that much of it piled up.
Overgrown gardens which have been neglected for quite a while take more time and effort to be put back into shape. Often times they also require several services to be carried out, for example, grass mowing, pruning of hedges and fertilising the lawn.
Quality soil, in many ways, takes care of itself and is really easy to manipulate, whereas clay and sandy soils require more care and time. They may also require more frequent visits.
Regular plants require standard watering and fertilising, but high-maintenance and exotic plants require that and much more to flourish and stay healthy.
Each season requires a different approach to caring for your lawn. Humid seasons lead to overgrowth of the grass, dry seasons can turn your lawn yellow. Autumn brings strong winds and rainfalls which can break branches and flood your garden. Then you will have waterlogged soil, which you need to take care of.
Yes, fixing up your garden is how you add value to your property. You get the value when the professionals are done and it increases over time. Seeing as how the weather in Australia ranges from 25°C (77°F) to 33°C (91°F) most of the year, you get to enjoy your garden longer compared to other countries.
And if you plan to sell your house, you can sleep tightly as a well-maintained garden can add tens of thousands of dollars to your property. The well-kept garden is the first thing future buyers see before entering the house. Once they get that first impression, the rest of the deal becomes easier. So, are you ready to book professionals for quality garden maintenance?
Book professional garden maintenance today!
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