Nic's Garden Maintenance

04/06/2022

Hello all,
It has been about 6 months since my last post and mulch has happened. This post is about this year's highlights and what's to come.

Westleigh is full of lovely gardens and I am grateful to be able to spend the majority of my work days there.
Growing up in Silver Cr, I got to know the area like the back of my hand. There will always be a soft spot in me for this pleasant neighbourhood.
- We had close calls hedging around a pool. Though my hedger battery fell in, I managed to fish it out quickly, and to my surprise it still works to this day.
- Westleigh Service Station saved the day when I'd lost my sunnies for whipper snipping.
Though they did not sell sunnies, the friendly staff let me borrow a pair of glasses. Another reason this has become my favorite fuel stop,
that is when I'm not getting mixed up as their staff dressed in similar high vis

Fox valley is Wahroonga's best kept secret; a tight knit community that borders on beautiful bush land.
Some of my favorite driving has been through the Comenarra Parkway and between streets lined by liquid ambers, which are keeping us busy as we clear piles of purple, red and orange leaves
- After a bit of TLC, we have helped grass grow where dead leaves used to collect, while keeping lawns lush and w**d free.
- One client heard my name as Nigel when I introduced myself. I never corrected him because each time I heard Nigel I could not help but think of Nigel Thornberry from the kids cartoon. Smashing!

Normanhurst, Thorleigh and Hornsby are all areas I have lived in and know very well.
While, Glenhaven has been my chance to get away from the hustle and bustle and give me an excuse to drive through Galston Gorge, say hi to Thornleigh Bunnings's Older Brother, and grab a pie from the pie bus I spent all lunch break one day looking for.

Our lawn mowers have been working hard. This year we started with 3 and are down to 1 that is currently being repaired. When that did not deter me from gardening, I tied up my boots to find my laces snapped. So, the business will be closed for a week for repairing, servicing and replacing tools.
Two staff members will be moving to Perth, so we will be looking for another staff member soon (PM for position details).

Due to such good word of mouth from my amazing clients, we are getting close to reaching a limit for how many clients we can visit.
So, to accomadate this, we will:
- keep regular jobs confined to the above mentioned suburbs, allocating 1-2 hours for current regular clients or full day visits as needed
- new clients, we can visit on Friday's for quotes, start with a 1 hour visit, then add into the business roster as we work towards achieving gardening goals and maintaining.
- A Wait-list is going to be introduced so that those who call up first will be seen first.

Exciting changes are coming!
- Before the end of the year we will be buying a steel A-frame sign with the logo you all know and love so you can spot us at work.
- I will have a collection of geraniums and african violets that I am cloning and propergating to be gifted to anyone who mentions NGM to a friend or leaves a review or photo on the page.
- More activity on this page and a mail list for all those interested in gardening tips and tricks, photos, plant discussions

I look forward to seeing all your amazing gardens and help keep those worms wiggling and those flowers blooming.

Nic- Nic's Garden Maintenance

13/01/2022

Bigger orchid

10/01/2022

Orchid at a client's:

22/12/2021

We are a business run by myself and another, both in our 20's.

Our services include: lawn mowing, turfing, whipper snipping, leaf blowing picking up piles, w**ding, cleaning gutters and pressure house cleaning.

We operate in Hornsby and surrounding areas, recently expanding to Wahroonga and Roseville. Shifts range from 1 to 3 hours.

Experience and driving license preferred but not necessary.

12/09/2021

Your Garden is an Ecosystem

Gardening is not about caring for one plant, but the entire garden.
Plants co-exist with insects, birds, lizards, bacteria etc.
The usual approach to gardening is to poison everything that does not look pretty, however doing you so will ruin the equilibrium the garden ecosystem requires.
Lizards and birds eat insects that eat plants in your garden. Microrganisms and bacteria keep soil healthy and ask for nothing in return except rotting leaves.
The more you learn about how a garden cares for itself, the sooner you will realise, poisons and fertilisers are unneccesary.
What a gardener should do, is keep the ecosystem in an equilibrium where pests and w**ds struggle while flowers and shrubs thrive.
So, if you want a pristine lawn, you need not use sprinklers, fertilisers and w**d sprays, but plant a humble tree.
Trees shield grass from the sun (preventing burning and moisture loss), while providing dead leaves rich in nitrogen as fertiliser. When the grass is long enough, the soil underneath is protected from the sun.
This is important for without protection, the soil the grass depends on could lose its micro-biome.
Spraying w**ds kills plants around it and can result in dead patches in your lawn. The alternative is to pull them out gradually and let the grass grow dense.
It is much harder for a w**d to fight a dense patch of grass for the sunlight and water it needs to grow. When grass is patchy, too short, or sickly, w**ds can move in easily.

Gardening is not a chore. It need not be expensive nor generate masses of green waste.
It is something to be enjoyed, something to learn from. It is the taste of a homegrown snowpea, the smell of freshly mowed lawn.
Barefeet stepping on soft grass, trees swaying in the breeze. A cup of tea watching a living world of your creation.

10/03/2021

22/02/2021

Frangipani's are flowering

20/11/2020

Mulching

10/11/2020

The following are photos of projects I have been working on at my place and some of my clients’ places.

One is a pond I have built. When I first moved in my house there was an empty garden bed, so I bought a pond liner, filled it up with water, added goldfish, plants and a tarp overhead to prevent direct sun causing algae as well as chicken wire to deter birds. What was previously an eye sore is now my favorite spot to relax.

Two photos are a before and after at one of my clients places. Wandering dew can grow wild, but once it is pulled out from the roots and covered with mulch, it is no more.

The photo of the bin is a watering system I made. When I change the water from my pond and aquarium, I pour the old water into this drum. The drum has a hose attached at the bottom which is hangs on the wooden pole with a stopper. To water, I simply take off the stopper and water flows by gravity, similar to the vacuum pump I use to empty the pond. This works especially well since the recycled water contains organic matter, beneficial bacteria and nitrogen which acts as a liquid fertilizer.

10/11/2020

A little about me and this page.

I am working full time as a gardener and have been helping clients of my own since I was 15. My approach is to first target big jobs, w**ding, hedging then visit on a fortnightly basis to maintain lawns and the rest of the garden. As each visit become quicker, I do a little extra. This allows you to have your garden look as nice as possible straight away, while not having the progress ruined by hastily pulled w**ds that grow back.