Your gardener in Monmouth and the villages either side of the Wye

Monmouth sits where the Monnow meets the Wye, and gardens here take their character from that. In town, behind Monnow Street and up towards the Kymin, plots are long and narrow and often walled — a strip of lawn, a border, and a hedge doing the work of a fence. Out past the bypass the ground opens into proper river-valley gardens: bigger lawns, old fruit trees, hedges that run to the field.

Regular visits cover the villages around the town too.

Close in — Dixton, Osbaston and Wonastow

Barely past the town sign. Dixton runs down to the river north of the bridge, Osbaston sits above it, and Wonastow is out on the Trellech side — town-sized gardens with a bit more room around them, and the odd steep bit where the ground drops towards the water.

West up the Monnow — Rockfield and St Maughans

The lanes climb away from the river towards Rockfield and, further out, St Maughans. Bigger rural gardens here, often with a paddock edge and hedges that have to earn their keep against the wind coming off the hills.

South down the valley — Mitchel Troy

Down the A40 towards Raglan, Mitchel Troy sits in the Trothy valley below the town. Sheltered ground, heavier soil, and the sort of garden where an old orchard corner is still doing something.

Over the border — Buckholt and Redbrook

Worth saying plainly, because it surprises people: NP25 crosses the border. At Buckholt and at Redbrook the line runs straight through the place — near neighbours, one side in Wales and one in England, all of them on a Monmouth postcode and using Monmouth shops. They are the same round for me either way: steep, wooded, and the sort of place where the hedge is the whole job.

Being in a river valley sets the seasonal rhythm. Autumn is leaves, and there are a lot of them — off lawns, out of gutters' reach on the ground, off paths before they turn slippery. Winter and early spring are for cutting hedges back hard and pruning old apple trees while they are asleep. In between it is the steady round from the first cut of spring onwards: mowing, edges, borders kept on top of, clippings bagged and gone.

Clearing an overgrown garden is the job that comes up most on a first visit, and what it costs is answered further down this page.

There's an old orchard corner with the house — can you keep it pruned and clear the windfall?

Yes — dormant-season pruning through winter and early spring, windfall and brash cleared in autumn. Old apple and perry trees around Monmouth do better with a steady prune year on year than one big hack. I'll bag or stack the brash, whichever suits.

Looking for a gardener in Rockfield, or anywhere up the Monnow?

Yes — the villages west of the town are part of the same round as Monmouth itself, at the same prices.

I'm in Redbrook, which is technically England. Do you still come?

Yes. NP25 crosses the border and so do I. At Redbrook and at Buckholt the line runs straight through the place, so both sides are one round to me — same prices, no call-out fee.

My garden drops away towards the river. Is that mowable?

Usually, yes. Banks and awkward slopes are normal on the Wye side of town and I carry the kit for long grass and steep ground. If part of it is better left as a strimmed rough edge, I'll say so.

How much does it cost to clear an overgrown garden in Monmouth?

It is £110 for a half day and £200 for a full one, with the waste taken away. A garden left a season is usually a half day; one left for years is usually a full one.