Guides for the people who manage the gardens and lawns
Plain-English answers for committees, owners corporation managers and facility managers: what grounds maintenance costs, how to scope a tender, and how to keep a site presentable without it becoming a job.
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What body corporate gardening costs in Melbourne
Published Australian market rates with sources, how owners corporations actually buy garden maintenance, what moves the price, and the red flags in a cheap quote.
Read the guide →How to tender a garden maintenance contract
The site schedule, a line-by-line scope, the paperwork to require up front, and how to make quotes genuinely comparable.
Read the guide →A 12-month lawn and garden calendar for Melbourne
What a maintenance program actually does season by season: mowing frequency, weed timing, hedges, leaf drop and the winter works window.
Read the guide →Holiday home garden maintenance on the Peninsula
The visit rhythm that works for absent owners, what each visit should include, and getting the property ready for summer.
Read the guide →Industrial mowing and gardens: a facility manager's guide
Boundary presentation, the risk sitting in long grass, the compliance paperwork to require, and scheduling around operations.
Read the guide →Fixed fee vs hourly: which works better?
How the two pricing models compare, where hourly bites in spring, and the scope protections that make a fixed fee safe.
Read the guide →Spring lawn and garden preparation
Soil temperature triggers, the preventative weed window, first feed timing, mowing frequency changes and getting beds ready before the September flush.
Read the guide →Hedge trimming and pruning, by species
Species by species timing for pittosporum, lilly pilly, buxus, westringia and photinia, trimming versus pruning, renovation limits, commercial programs and market costs.
Read the guide →Strata garden maintenance guide
What committees and managers should specify: scope, frequency, green waste, liaison and insurance, plus how to change contractors cleanly.
Read the guide →Mowing height by species
Heights for kikuyu, couch, buffalo and tall fescue, the one third rule, and how height should shift through the seasons.
Read the guide →Body corporate contract checklist
The clauses that belong in the signed agreement, from the site schedule and reporting to insurance, exclusions and notice.
Read the guide →Storm season prep for strata sites
Trees, drains, loose items, the response plan and the photo record, done in October before the season and not after the first event.
Read the guide →New guides are added through the season.
Tim's articles in trade and community publications
Beyond the guides above, Tim writes for industry and local publications about the same work. These pieces are hosted by the publications that ran them.
Five checks for a better landscape handover
What a maintenance team needs before it takes over a newly built landscape, from planting records that match the site and irrigation it can run to a defects list with an owner and a clear start date.
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What pests are telling you, a practical introduction to integrated pest management
Why a pest outbreak is usually a sign of something else in the garden, such as feeding, watering or plant placement, and how to decide whether it needs action before reaching for a spray.
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The grounds of a venue are part of the welcome
How paths, signage, lawns and entry gardens shape a visitor's first impression of a pool, gym or event venue before they reach reception.
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How a solo grounds contractor keeps recurring commercial sites on schedule
An operator story on running a commercial round as one person: the diary, the site records and the habits that keep every site on its cycle.
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Quoting commercial sites: measure from above, price from the gate
How aerial imagery, a site walk and a written scope turn into a fixed monthly quote that holds for the year.
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Reading the signs of spring in a Hills garden
Why spring reaches each part of a hillside garden at a different pace, where frost settles on a clear night, and when a bed is ready to plant. PDF, page 23.
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A weekend spring reset for Dingley gardens
A plain checklist of what to catch in a home garden before the growing season takes off. PDF, page 20.
Read it there →Prefer to just ask?
Tell us about your property for a free walkthrough and a fixed monthly quote, usually with a reply the same business day and rarely later than the next one.