A Landscapers garden preparation Devon

An insight to the daily life of a garden design and landscaping build up on a rear garden located in Cullompton, Exeter, Devon.

Day 2

View previous day here

Coffee.

I requested a larger machine to move the stock pile of rubble as the previous hired excavator struggled to meet the projects demands. You never can tell what belt of ground lies below the surface topsoil.

Clean site, Clean work vicinity

Road sweeping

Now that the micro excavator has been replaced with a 1.5 ton machine, the roads are swept clear to eliminate any future problems that may arise from peeved neighbours, this and parking are the two most common problems that have risen in the past..... a long time ago I must say.

Again common courtesy goes along way.

Garden Clearance

Garden clearance

Now the excavator has been checked for oil, water and red diesel, the rubble can be moved into reach of the Hiab grab. I set the revs to a touch off high and operate the digger until the pile is relocated.

In the mean time the team mark out the retaining wall footings and hand dig to 500mm below finish floor level.

As a rule I'm a firm believer of allowing the excavator to do it's job, however, on this occasion it's a hand dig as I cant slue round with out fear of knocking this 2m high 100mm wall !!

 Hand digging the feature wall footings

Hand dig footings

A 2m high x 225 wide feature T shaped 7 newton block wall with recesses and stainless steel up lighters will be constructed on 600mm wide x 500mm deep Rc 35 structural concrete, the team makes short work of this minor hand dig. We've hand dug on landscaping projects were goats refuse to venture !!

With the ditching bucket I have cut the footings which will accommodate the exterior garden BBQ and kitchen area, the later gas bottle and all electrical ducting, lighting, pump switches will be out of sight in the cupboard space below the work surface.

Diesel machine at the end of the day

Diesel machine at end of day

With half of the feature wall footings dug, the decking dig reduced to the correct levels and the days drawing in way to quickly for my liking, I start to cut and reduce the raised seating area, riser and half of the main paving and led reflection pool area by eye.

Having an "eye for a level" cannot be bought and takes years of practice to gain...... I wont be far out once the team dip tomorrow with the laser level.

Clean site, secure all tools and diesel the excavator, never diesel up in the mornings as the fuel tank is half full or less and will collect condensation over night.

Every day the garden will be kept tidy once we have completed our goals.

Tomorrows blog:

Groundworks on a Landscape Garden Exeter

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Peter sellers replied to Andrew Bentley's discussion Finding work
"Andrew, it's probably no consolation but remember if it was easy everyone would be doing it!
When I started there was no internet etc and we had to use yellow pages and Thompson directory. But marketing yourself needs to be a multi faceted approach…"
2 hours ago
James replied to Andrew Bentley's discussion Finding work
"How is everyone finding enquiries this year?
I'm very busy currently with an almost full schedule but I have noticed that I have had very few new enquiries this year. Normally the phone is ringing daily but its not even weekly at the moment. 
Is it…"
5 hours ago
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7 hours ago
Andrew Bentley replied to Andrew Bentley's discussion Finding work
"Hi
thanks for your reply. I used to be in the Gardeners Guild but never got an enquiry through them, though it is good to say to clients you are a member!"
8 hours ago
Andrew Bentley replied to Andrew Bentley's discussion Finding work
"Hi
thank you for your response. Yes I offer general gardening and will look at Facebook, which I've never used."
8 hours ago
Geoffrey King replied to Andrew Bentley's discussion Finding work
"I''m looking at the gardener's guild this year, as I've grown tired of Bark.  Where it now costs typically £20 to get the lead details, to phone  them.
For the  " Bark what's that? , Who are you?, Why have you rung me? Dunno what you're talking…"
17 hours ago
Ian Harvey replied to Andrew Bentley's discussion Finding work
"Firstly, what type of gardening are you offering? If it is a certain speciality (such as garden design), then your advertising might need to be tailored to that. If however it is general gardening (lawn maintenance, hedge and shrub trimming, border…"
17 hours ago
Honey Badger replied to crawford smith's discussion Brass trigger,lance and fittings on CP15 Evolution
"Apologies I have no experience of brass fittings.
I had a look at the catalogue. It appears there's no adjustability in them. "
21 hours ago
crawford smith replied to crawford smith's discussion Brass trigger,lance and fittings on CP15 Evolution
"Fixed elbow on a brass lance...have used the plastic ones for 45 years and know them inside out...that's the problem with the brass one,no joints to swivel and connectors must be tight against washers🤔"
yesterday
Honey Badger replied to crawford smith's discussion Brass trigger,lance and fittings on CP15 Evolution
"Lance like this with elbow parallel with floor. Adjust deflector nozzle accordingly."
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Honey Badger replied to crawford smith's discussion Brass trigger,lance and fittings on CP15 Evolution
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yesterday
Peter sellers replied to Ag's discussion How to make ends meet as a professional gardener
"Well said"
yesterday
Vic 575 replied to Ag's discussion How to make ends meet as a professional gardener
"I have been a professional gardener for 40 years. I work for all manner of clients, including Chatsworth Estate, local Councils and businesses etc. All work is price per task. So for example, a given mowing job is £120 per visit/cut. How long it…"
yesterday
Peter sellers replied to Ag's discussion How to make ends meet as a professional gardener
"After 40 years, never been asked for how long we would be on site for, yes we give a spec on what is included and what is not along with frequency of visits in each month . Just gained six new clients on this basis who are very happy that they know…"
yesterday
Peter sellers replied to Andrew Bentley's discussion Finding work
"Good advice, we still have clients from 40 years ago when we started, these were gained by going and asking if we could quote."
yesterday
Intelligent Landscapes replied to Ag's discussion How to make ends meet as a professional gardener
"Solicitors generally charge an hourly rate, I do not see that devaluing their profession. 
If I was a customer and someone said to me I will come and sort your garden for £2500 per annum I would want to know how long they would be there and what…"
yesterday
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Finding work

Hi everyone After a couple of years employed as Head of Horticulture for a charity, I decided to return to self employment as a freelance gardener at the end of March. I am struggling to find clients and don't know what to do! I have a website, a My…

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