Questions & answers

I charge $55 an hour, and there’s no minimum visit — how long I’m there depends on what your garden needs. Any plants or materials are charged at cost, and you’ll get an estimate before I start.

No — I charge by the hour, and how long I’m there depends on what your garden needs. Some visits are a quick tidy-up, others take most of the day. Companion gardening can be shorter again.

Most gardens do well on fortnightly visits through spring and summer and monthly through the cooler months. If you’re happy to do the small jobs yourself, a seasonal visit four times a year keeps the bones in good shape.

No — I don’t take green waste away. Anything that can be composted or chipped stays on your property as free mulch, and the rest goes to an area you choose, or into your green bin for collection.

Tawa and the surrounding suburbs.

In progress.

In Wellington, mid-July to early August for the main winter prune — once the worst of the frosts have passed but before growth takes off. Through summer, just deadhead down to the first strong five-leaflet leaf to keep flowers coming.

Not at all — clay holds nutrients beautifully once you improve its structure. Compost on top, mulch every year, and stay off it when it’s wet. It takes a couple of seasons but it’s a permanent fix rather than a patch.

Natives earn their keep here — corokia, hebe, coprosma, pittosporum, flax and grasses. For flowers, look at lavender, salvia, rosemary, echium and hardy geraniums. A shelter planting on the windward side changes everything behind it.

Water in the morning instead of the evening, clear damp hiding places, plant seedlings out a little bigger, and go out with a torch after rain — twenty minutes of hand-picking beats a season of bait.

Winter is best for tree planting.