Garden care · North Shore
Garden care & maintenance
Garden maintenance planned around your garden, from a qualified horticulturist who brings genuine care and attention to every garden.
With formal horticultural qualifications and six years of practical experience, I offer specialised maintenance that balances structure, softness and sustainability. I've worked extensively with camellias, natives and perennial displays and take a plant-first approach in every garden.
Rate: $83.50 per hour, with a quote first. See all pricing or the regular care plans.
Precision pruning & hedge shaping
Careful, plant-first pruning of camellias, azaleas, gardenias and flowering shrubs, timed to the season so you get stronger growth and better flowering. Formal and informal hedges shaped cleanly and kept in proportion.
- Camellias pruned lightly after flowering to keep their shape and set up next season's buds
- Flowering shrubs pruned at the right time so you don't lose next year's flowers
- Hedge shaping and structure refinement, formal or informal
- Plant training and formative pruning for long-term health
- Free guide: heritage & classic gardens (camellia timing, petal blight, hedges)
Monthly garden care packages
Regular visits from the same qualified horticulturist who knows your garden. Pruning, feeding, weeding, mulching where your soil needs it, and seasonal tasks planned ahead, so your garden looks its best all year.
- A visit schedule that suits your garden and budget: see the regular care plans
- Seasonal jobs planned ahead, not left until they are urgent
- The same person every visit, who knows your plants
- Notes on what was done and what is coming up next
Garden design & replanting plans
Bespoke planting plans that rework tired or underperforming areas, using plants chosen to suit your soil, light and style, from elegant formal beds to relaxed perennial borders.
- Replanting plans for tired or struggling beds
- Plants chosen for your soil, light and style
- Replanting that works with what is already thriving
- Installation available once you're happy with the plan
- Free guide: native, classic or a mix? (including mixed native and perennial borders)
Seasonal planting & colour beds
Seasonal display planting, vibrant colour beds and perennial displays, planted at the right time of year so they establish well.
- Seasonal display planting and colour bed installation
- Perennial borders and displays
- Strategic planting of perennials, natives and seasonal colour
- Advice on what will flower when, so there is always something looking good
Native & wildflower meadow gardens
Design, installation and care of native and wildflower plantings that bring in birds, bees and butterflies and suit North Shore soils. Low-water, high-impact and beautiful year-round.
- Turn a tired patch of lawn into a native wildflower meadow
- Local species matched to your soil, from heavy clay to light sandstone sand
- Layered planting that gives small birds food and shelter
- Native, classic or mixed meadows, sown or planted in the right season: see my free meadows guide
- See a native garden bed I planted, from bare soil to grown in
- Paid advice and planting plans available: see native garden advice
Soil improvement, composting & mulching
Soil improvement with compost and soil conditioners, plus mulching where a site check shows it will help.
- Compost, conditioners and organic matter matched to your soil
- Mulching with coarse mulch only, usually 50–75 mm deep, set for your site (no fine mulch or fine layers underneath), kept off stems and trunks
- Low-phosphorus feeding for natives such as banksias, grevilleas and waratahs
- Clay soil preparation for better drainage and root growth, and fixing water-repellent soil: see watering natives
Dry stone retaining walls
Small sandstone dry stone walls as part of a garden job. They hold a garden bed or level out a gentle slope, and get planted around so they fit in.
- Stacked sandstone, no mortar or concrete
- Small garden walls that hold a bed or soften a gentle slope
- Part of a planting job: the bed behind the wall is prepared and planted
- Small garden walls only, not engineered or structural walls: anything bigger needs an engineer and may need council approval, so I'll tell you if that applies
- For larger landscaping jobs, I can bring in a landscaper I work with, at their own rates
Pest, disease & deficiency diagnosis
Diagnosis and management of plant pests, diseases and nutrient deficiencies, with a plant-health-first approach.
- Identifying what is actually wrong before treating anything
- Checks for common problems such as aphids and scale on new growth
- Feeding and soil fixes for nutrient deficiencies
- ChemCert-accredited, so any chemical use follows the label and safe-handling rules
Irrigation checks & seasonal readiness
Irrigation system assessments and seasonal readiness preparation, especially before summer, when blocked drippers waste water and starve plants.
- Pre-summer irrigation check-ups
- Finding blocked or broken drippers and leaks
- Watering advice that follows Sydney Water's Water Wise rules
- Getting new plantings through their first summer
A sandstone dry stone wall for a sloping corner
I cleared an overgrown, sloping back corner and built a curved dry stone wall from sandstone, giving a level garden bed along the fence. The camellia stayed. For bigger landscaping jobs I can bring in a landscaper I work with, at their own rates.
Photos: RF Horticulture
A native garden bed, from bare soil to grown in
A native garden bed on Sydney's North Shore. I prepared the bed with fresh soil, set the plants out in their pots to check the layout, then planted. A layered mix of Australian species brings structure, texture and seasonal colour: grasses and strappy plants at the front, a silver-leaved shrub behind and flowering plants for colour. It's a resilient planting that grows stronger with time.
Photos: RF Horticulture
For real estate agents & property managers
- Pre-sale garden presentation: pruning, hedge shaping, fresh mulch and seasonal colour, ready for photos and open homes, often at short notice
- Ongoing maintenance for managed properties: reliable, documented visits that keep gardens in good condition between tenancies
- End-of-lease garden restoration
Happy to do a walk-through of any property you have coming up.
Spring is the big season
Spring is the most important season for plant health, structure and long-term performance: seasonal pruning of camellias and flowering shrubs, planting perennials, natives and seasonal colour, hedge shaping, soil improvement, composting and mulching, pest and disease checks, and irrigation check-ups before the heat arrives. See the seasonal care calendar for month-by-month jobs.
Get in touch for a garden care quote
Call, text or send a quick enquiry. Quotes for garden care, maintenance and planting. No travel fee on the North Shore.