Your gardener in Upton-upon-Severn and the riverside villages

Upton-upon-Severn is a riverside town and its gardens know it. Lawns near the water sit on deep alluvial soil that grows grass hard through summer, and the Severn still floods Upton Ham most winters — even though the town itself has been properly defended since the flood works finished in 2012. Most of the town's gardens sit within a few streets of the Pepperpot, the old church tower that does for a landmark here, with the marina and Upton Ham bookending the riverside.

The villages either side of the bridge are part of the round.

Over the water — Ryall and Holly Green

Ryall and Holly Green are the first lanes over the bridge — gardens on the gravel terrace where grass gets going early and the mowing season runs long.

Earls Croome and Queenhill

Earls Croome sits by the Croome estate turn, Queenhill on the rise south of it — brick-and-timber houses whose hedges and lawns front the A38's long straight.

The Hanleys — Castle and Swan

Hanley Castle and Hanley Swan pair up to the north: one with the school and the yew-shaded churchyard, the other around its green and pond — village-green gardens in the proper sense.

Welland, Longdon and Ripple

Out west, Welland spreads under the Malvern ridge; Longdon and Ripple close the round southward, where the Severn meadows take the winter water first.

River-town grass sets the work: strong growth from spring onwards, edges that need holding, and the odd lawn that starts the year underwater and needs raking off and reseeding rather than cutting. Hedges, borders and one-off clear-ups fill the rest. Lawn mowing in Upton-upon-Severn is the job that comes up most, and what it costs is answered further down this page.

Lawn mowing in Upton-upon-Severn

I mow lawns in Upton-upon-Severn and the villages both sides of the bridge, on grass that works harder than most — this is a river town, and the lawns know it.

Why Upton lawns are their own problem

The gardens near the water sit on deep alluvial soil, and alluvium does two things to a lawn: it feeds it, and it keeps it damp enough that growth barely pauses. Where free-draining ground browns off and stops in a dry June, river-town grass keeps coming — good news for how the lawn looks, relentless news for whoever is cutting it. Strong growth from spring onwards and edges that need holding are the standing work here.

Over the bridge it is a different reason for the same answer: Ryall and Holly Green sit on the gravel terrace, where the ground warms early and the mowing season starts sooner and runs longer than it does on heavier ground a few miles east.

The lawn that starts the year underwater

Out at Welland, Longdon and Ripple the Severn meadows take the winter water first, and every few winters a lawn goes under. What comes back up is not a mowing job — cutting a silted, sodden lawn tears it. The right order is raking off, letting it breathe, then repairing it properly, reseeding the drowned patches once the ground is workable. I do the recovery as well as the mowing, and I will tell you which one your lawn needs.

What a visit includes

The cut, the edges, and the clippings bagged and taken away. Edges are not an extra — on the fast growth here they are the difference between "cut" and "tidy", and they are the first thing to slip when a lawn is done in a hurry.

If a border has run onto the grass or there is a bit of trimming to do while I am there, that gets sorted as part of the visit.

If you're looking for a gardener in Upton-upon-Severn or over the bridge in the villages, call 07443 797 834.

The lawn goes under water most winters — what's the right way to bring it back in spring?

Let it drain, rake off the silt and debris, then give it a first high cut once the ground firms up. Riverside lawns around Upton usually recover faster than they look like they will. Reseeding fills any patches that stayed wet too long.

Can you rake off and reseed where the water sat?

Yes — rake-off, overseed and a feed is a normal spring job on the lawns nearest the Severn. Done early, the lawn is back level with the rest by early summer.

Looking for a gardener in Ryall or Earls Croome — over the bridge from Upton?

Yes, same price either side of the bridge — everything either side of the water is covered from Upton itself.

How much does lawn mowing cost in Upton-upon-Severn?

A one-off cut with the edges included is from £25, clippings bagged for your green bin. Riverside lawns grow hard and late, so they often want cutting when gardens further up have stopped.

How often does a riverside lawn need cutting?

More often than most, and over a longer season. The ground here holds water and warmth well into the autumn, so growth carries on after the hills have given up.