Garden TLC – Helping You Create your Garden Paradise

About Garden TLC

Helping You Create Your Garden Paradise

Gardens have captured our imaginations for thousands of years. Gardens have been all things to all people but sometimes they become something different. Something magical. When you look at paintings, by Monet amongst others, the sheer joy of the mixture of colours, light and form create feelings of delight, contentment and awe. Not surprisingly the word ‘paradise’ comes from an ancient Persian word, ’pardis’, for a walled enclosure or garden. If you want to create a bit of paradise in your garden then maybe I can help! I have always had a natural affinity with plants, especially flowers, although I have grown plenty of vegetables in my time. Whilst my friends would swear that I talk to my plants, what I do is constantly make sure they have the TLC they need…light, water and good soil. All of which takes time…and many of us are time-poor in our modern world. So these are the sort of things that I can offer. You can choose as much or as little of these as you wish.

I'm James Allen and I’ve been a lifelong gardener. My degree was in Biological Sciences…so plants featured quite a bit! I have a great working knowledge of plants, how they grow, what they need and what they can do. All key in choosing and assembling a garden plan. My toolkit is a bit like Mary Poppin’s carpet bag…so much in there! I’m diligent….I care for my plants….and I will for yours too! My aim is for you to sit in your garden, chill out and be happy to forget the world and enjoy the simple pleasure of sitting in your paradise. I live in Newbury and am happy to consider work in Newbury and environs.

Starting with a Clean Slate
Getting the Best from Your Space
Time to Live

What Garden TLC can offer

Starting with a Clean Slate

Without constant attention gardens quickly get overgrown and seem to sprout weeds from every nook and cranny! Getting a garden neat and tidy is a good platform for then deciding what to do next. So that’s the first area where I can help. Services include: removing litter & dog waste, digging up and binning weeds, training climbers, pruning and trimming dead wood, levelling and feeding lawns, filling and planting pots, repairing trellises, watering and feeding where necessary.

Getting the Best from Your Space

Whether it’s a small town garden or a large plot of land, plants create form and feel. (The landscape gardens of Capability Brown are a wonderful testament to this). So having the clean slate, understanding the effect you want and having the knowledge of the plants (which I have in abundance) and how they will shape that space is the critical conversation to have. I work chiefly with plants and use their growth habits and the combinations of plantings to create form and colour. But often other jobs are wanted…sheds, patios, fencing, electrics etc. Whilst I don’t do these I have excellent trading partners who do, and who are well priced and honest.

Time to Live

Plants take time to grow and require TLC. How often do we forget to water the plants only to find them floppy, unhappy and maybe beyond recovery. One of the services I offer is to literally look after the plants in your garden. When your plants are happy they grow faster and create more quickly the effect that you want. The other thing to add is that it does take time for plants to settle and grow, especially perennials. Sometime they don’t work or perish and have to be changed. Some plants will thrive in your garden, others won’t. So a bit of ‘suck it and see’ is needed.

Garden TLC Pricing

Initial Consultation

Free of Charge

First Hour

^£25

Per Hour

Cost is for labour only, materials are extra.

Subsequent Hours

^£20

Per Hour

Construction and electrical work will be separately sourced/quoted, if required.