A bit about Matthew…

Matthew May joined Ed’s Garden Services in March 2012 to be an Ed’s Operator in the Folkestone and Canterbury areas.

Garden work is never truly done and Matthew always keeps himself busy in the Winter months. The following garden makeover is an example of ways he keeps active all year round as he completed this job before Spring had sprung earlier this year.

Matthew tells us more about the work involved with this garden makeover…

“As you can see from the pictures shown below, the house was very new and only had a small patio. My customer asked for a larger patio area to enjoy in the Summer for BBQ’s and entertaining friends.”

“Firstly, we lifted the existing patio and path and used these slabs to create a new shed base.”

“We then fixed the issue of water running in the direction of the house due to the garden sloping. To do this, we dug out the new patio area so it tilted away from the house and used this soil to flatten the upper level of the garden.”

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“We top soiled and turfed the top level of the garden. Then we laid down grey Indian Sandstone for the new patio and path. Lastly, we built a wall with sleepers and installed drains to tackle the problem of surface water.”

“I am very happy with the outcome of this garden makeover and so is my customer.”

Why not get in touch with Matthew who would love to help with your gardening needs?

 

 

 

Our gardeners love a garden makeover project – and we love looking at the photos! Here’s some of the great work that our Ed’s gardeners have done over the years, turning your outdoor spaces into something you can be proud of.

Taming the wilderness

The best part of the job is that the home owners are no longer afraid to go in their garden. They can enjoy being outdoors again, sitting on the bench at the end of their land and looking out to the sheep field beyond.

New lawn

This garden in Sevenoaks was given a total transformation by Neil. The customer was delighted with the end result and looks forward to spending time in her ‘extra room’.

Let there be light

Stuart was proud of this garden clearance job he did in New Malden. Removing the foliage let some sun shine on the garden again.

Unrecognisable

Ed’s Garden Maintenance Operator Ivo did this great garden clearance for a customer in Merton, London.

Ground force action

This incredible garden transformation by Tim and his men was done in one day. After clearing the path to the shed and laying the turf, the garden was ready to be enjoyed again.

Makeover

Ed’s Garden Maintenance Operator Marcus who covers the Bracknell area has been keeping busy with this garden makeover.

A low maintenance garden

Our former South West London gardener, Sarah, was asked to overhaul a garden ready for rental. The customer was delighted with the result.

The jungle

This gorgeous jungle bed was given some TLC by Clive, and it looks great one year on. “During the flooding this bed was under two feet of river water for a couple of weeks,” Clive said, “but almost everything came through with the exception of a few Dahlias.”

Tidying things up

The family living in this house were very happy with their rejuvenated garden once Den, who formerly covered the Middlesex area, added a new fence, returfed the lawn and put in a path.

Cutting back

Paul took this wild garden in Bristol from meadow to

It’s not just gardens…

Ed’s Garden Maintenance Operator Marcus Richardson from Bracknell recently cleared an allotment ready for nursery children to grow their own!

From New Zealand to Sevenoaks

Neatening up this flower bed was one of Neil’s first jobs as an Ed’s gardener. Having already built two sucessful gardening businesses in New Zealand, Neil brought his expertise over to England.

Summer improvement

Our Ed’s Garden Maintenance Operator in Folkestone, Matthew, cleared and turfed this garden ready for the family to enjoy over the summer months.

Jack of all trades

Andy, who covers the Ealing area, has been out tidying this patio for a customer. He is now off to mow a lawn and says he loves the variety of work he gets through Ed’s.

Modern makeover

Marcus Richardson was given an interesting project by the owner of this garden. The customer claimed to have little gardening skills but loved spending time in the garden. The brief was to come up with ideas to give the front and back garden a modern makeover, with a natural look to compliment the surrounding plantation and to create a garden with symmetrical clean lines and that requires little maintenance.

Marcus decided for the front garden to lay new turf, create a brick edging and add some gravel and shrubs. The back garden was more of a challenge as it was very steep and needed to be terraced.

Marcus started by rebuilding the steps, installing a deck on the top tier and laying turf. The next step was to remove the shed and build a brick BBQ, South African style to retain the privacy that was provided by the shed. The decking was expanded to tie in with the rest of the garden and over the next few months Marcus will plant more shrubs to give a more secluded feel.

The customer said: “I have been delighted with the result and I am looking forward to spending more time in the garden next summer.”

Outbuilding demolition

A freshen-up

This Raynes Park garden was transformed by Kevin, who cleared the space of debris and unwanted plants before turfing the lawn.

Small garden, big difference

Anita, our former Ed’s gardener in Wimbledon, made some big differences in small gardens. This one is a cute cottage garden which the owners needed to spruce up for presenting the property to market. Anita was asked to get it looking good, then keep it looking just as good while it is on the market.

ANita said: “It’s amazing how much of a difference you can make in a relatively short time at this time of year. Even the mist beautiful gardens can look quite neglected after the toll of winter.

“We can make a real difference and make sure your garden is in pole position to look its best for the year ahead.”

A flying start

Den kicked off his career with Ed’s by tackling an ambitious garden clearance job in his first week. He said: “I am very excited about my new business and I look forward to getting great satisfaction from having happy customers and doing something I enjoy.”

Spring-ready

A magic transformation

Kevin, our former Raynes Park gardener, worked his magic on this garden to give it an elegant makeover.

Before Kevin started, the front garden was a small front lawn that was left to grow a little wildly in front of this residential house in Raynes Park. Now, the unkempt lawn is an extremely smart little circle surrounded by a sophisticated border and a cobbled stone pathway.

Winter prepping

New life

John Marshall transformed a garden from feeling oppressive and overgrown to giving it a whole new lease of life. The customer felt the plants had taken over and she was looking at a jungle and had no ideas where to start! The customer rang to say how delighted she was with the results and sent in some photographs.

Messy to classy

Ed’s Garden Operators’ Canine Helpers

This is a really busy time of year for an Ed’s Garden Operator. With the milder weather we’ve been having, the grass is still growing.  This means that  there is still mowing to be done. However, the challenges of Autumn (lots of clearing leaves!) and getting all our lovely customers’ gardens in shape for the winter ahead are there too.

We’re not complaining though.  We love it.  Especially when the weather is kind, with bright, crisp Autumn days.

With limited daylight hours, our Garden Operators can do with a bit of help to get on top of their workloads. Indeed, some of their own canine apprentices have been providing an extra set of paws to get the job done.

As everyone knows, we love reviewing performance at Ed’s so we just had to ask our guys how the new recruits are measuring up…

Baloo’s Review!

This is Baloo, a lovely and loyal German Shepherd. She has recently started helping Bob, our Garden Operator in Horsham, to deliver his gardening services.

Bob says, “Well, I’m probably a little bit biased as I’m very fond of Baloo. However,  she is really getting to grips with the challenges of being a sidekick . Nothing is too much trouble for her and she is very versatile in helping out with whatever I need.  She is just great at multi-tasking.”

“Whether it be guarding the van or helping me uproot a somewhat stubborn tree, she is on it. Her focus is amazing and even a rogue squirrel in a garden won’t distract her from the task in hand.  However,   I can see it takes every ounce of her willpower to ignore them!  What can I say apart from I’m really lucky to have her on board.  If she can keep her current level of motivation, she will go very far indeed!”

Monty’s moment of truth!

Another recent recruit is a rather dashing Hungarian Vizsla called Monty. He  lives with Stuart, our Ed’s Garden Operator in rural Norfolk.  Clearly a handsome and delightful chap but we asked Stuart if he could sum up how Monty is cutting the mustard.

Looking thoughtful, Stuart says “ Well, it all started off brilliantly in the summer when Monty was very keen to spring out of bed and get to work. Sadly, since the cooler days have kicked in, it has all changed. Monty does a quick weather check before he decides whether he is going to grace us with his company or just stay at home snuggling beside the Aga. It really isn’t good enough.”

“Monty is still a very young fellow but I feel that his current commitment level could be better. I am out in all weathers but Monty…well, he just doesn’t seem to be made of the same stuff.  In all honesty,  he seems to be a bit of a fair weather gardener.”

“If only he could get his work ethic right, he would go far in this business.  His  interpersonal skills are second to none and everyone who meets him tends to think he is wonderful. It’s not fair really. I toil away, day in, day out, without as much as a grumble and yet Monty is always the one who wins the popularity vote hands down with my customers!”

 

Dave Laing joined Ed’s Garden Services earlier this year  as our  Garden Operator in Andover.

Before joining Ed’s, Dave had wanted to run a Garden Operator business for quite some time. He loves being physically active and enjoys both gardening and meeting people. A perfect fit for him!

Dave’s friendly approach, hard work and high standards are paying off and he already has a number of regular customers who are very appreciative of his work.

Dave has been getting a number excellent five star customer reviews. Here’s what Dave has to say about that:-

“ I genuinely love getting great reviews. I know that I try hard to please my customers and pride myself in doing the best job that I possibly can. Whether it’s lawns, hedges, big garden clearances or autumn leaf clearing, I try to make my gardens look their best. When I’ve finished a garden visit, I always hope my customer is as satisfied with it as I am. Over the summer and autumn, I’ve particularly enjoyed perfecting my lawn stripes.”

This is one of Dave’s gardens…

“When I get appreciative reviews, I feel like it’s a real validation of what I strive to achieve. That’s satisfied customers. I’ve got some great customers and making them happy is without a doubt the best part of my job.”

If you think Dave can help you with your garden requirements, please do get in touch.

My name is Pete Henchey and I established my Ed’s Garden Services business in Sutton Coldfield earlier this year.

I knew I would really enjoy being a gardener but, to be honest, I didn’t realise just how much. It’s been a very busy first summer for me but I have found the work to be really rewarding and I particularly enjoy meeting new customers and understanding their gardening requirements.

My work is very varied, ranging from re-turfing and mowing lawns to hedges and jet washing patios and I enjoy the variety of it all. However,  I particularly love transforming my customers’ gardens. I find it so rewarding to stand back and look at the finished article and I can’t resist taking a few photos here and there!

There’s something very satisfying about seeing the final product when you’ve turned an area in need of a bit of work into a great new piece of lawn. The first photo below shows the new piece of lawn in a recent re-turfing job. I was delighted with the end result.

The second photo shows the lawn after its first cut. Still looking good! My customer and I have now moved on to set up a routine maintenance schedule to keep those stripes looking as fresh and sharp as the first mow.

Finally, here are a few impressive hedges I have been working on lately. This job required a lot of attention to detail but I thoroughly enjoyed it and was delighted with how they looked when I’d finished the job.

Richard Cooke, our Ed’s Operator in South East London, has very kindly showcased his excellent work by sending some great photos into the Ed’s Office. Richard has been running his Ed’s business for nearly five years and has loved having the opportunity to work his magic in a range of gardens.

This is what Richard has to say about his life with Ed’s:-

” I love being an Ed’s Operator. I’m a really high-energy, outdoorsy person and love a challenge. Before Ed’s, I did a variety of interesting jobs, but I always got itchy feet and felt that I had far too much energy for what I was doing. I’m at my best when I am on the move and solving problems!

I love the sense of achievement when something is a bit messy and difficult and I can look at the end result and see the difference I’ve made. I love the variety of the gardens I get to make a difference in, from small to large and new to old and established ones.

I also really enjoy the customer interaction aspect of my work and almost five years in, I still get a big thrill from feedback from delighted customers. It sounds a bit of a cliché but I feel really privileged to be able to run a business that suits my personality so well. My wife and I have recently welcomed a baby son and my wife jokes that I take almost as many photos of my ‘before and after’ gardens as I do of the baby!”

Here are some of the finished articles from Richard …

Here at Ed’s Garden Maintenance, we are delighted to announce that we can now service customers in the Thurrock area. Paul Wellington has recently joined Ed’s to set up his garden maintenance business in the Thurrock area. Paul knows the turf (excuse the pun!) very well already, having previously been a black cab driver in the area.

Paul is now fully operational and is delivering a full range of Gardening Services including Hedge Trimming, Grass Cutting, Lawn Turfing, Pressure Washing and Garden Tidy Ups.

Paul is rearing to go with his new business. Here is what he has to say about embarking on his new venture:-

“I have a lot of customer service experience from working as a cabbie and I know how important it is to go the extra mile to make your customers really happy. For me this is all about delivering excellent garden services and building a strong reputation in the community.

I’ve spent time learning the ropes with other Ed’s Operators and the training I have had has been second to none. I feel very well prepared to take on the challenges of running an efficient business.

Prompt, reliable and efficient is our mantra and it is at the core of our business. It is a bonus that I really love the outdoors and am thrilled to be behind a lawn mower rather than a steering wheel.”

Please get in touch if you think Paul can help you with your garden maintenance needs.

Providing Jet Washing Services to Rustington

I have now been running my own business for nearly six months and I don’t know where the time has grown. Despite the winter months, I have really enjoyed being outside helping prepare their gardens, either for the coming Spring or to tidy up their gardens prior to placing their property on the market for sale.

I have already met many nice people and received some very complementary reviews.

The ethos of Ed’s Garden Maintenance is providing a prompt, reliable and efficient service and I am always looking at ways to improve the services that I deliver by investing in the latest equipment and ongoing training.

Having already completed a Power Pole Pruning Course, obtained my award in the Safe Use of Pesticides and attended a Fruit Tree Pruning Course, I am looking for the next course that complements the regular internal training that we all receive.

I am not sure how many people enjoy the thought of jet washing their patio or driveway, not only do you lose your weekend but end up soaked and covered in dirt. This is a service that I offer, but have to admit, the thought of jet washing a large driveway made my heart sink until NOW!

I am now the proud owner of a Flat Surface Jet Washing Machine that not only means no more hunching, but it also keeps the dirt on the floor, meaning that I stay clean and there is minimal mess to the customers property when cleaning that driveway or patio. Bring on those large driveways that I used to fear!

I have now cleaned the driveways of three of my immediate neighbours with a fourth booked in. I have also cleaned 40 years of dirt from my father-in-laws drive. Of those jobs completed, the finished results have been excellent with a lot of positive comments. There are a number of examples available to see.

So, as we move into spring, I feel well prepared to cope with meeting new people and of course those long hot summer days being outside.