Seasonal care · 7 minute guide
What landscape maintenance involves, and how often
The tasks in a maintenance programme and the frequency each one actually needs, season by season — the schedule we work to on handed-over sites.
A new landscape is not finished at handover. It is at its most vulnerable, and the twelve months that follow decide whether it establishes or thins out. This is the programme we work to, and what each task is for.
Before you begin
What you’ll need
- Secateurs and loppers
- Line trimmer and mower
- Fertiliser suited to the planting
- Spare mulch
- Spare stakes and ties
Set the visit frequency by season, not by the calendar
Growth is not even through the year, so neither is the work. Fortnightly through summer, about every three weeks in spring and autumn, monthly through winter.
Field noteSummer visits are close together because weeds and water stress both move fast in January, not because there is more to cut.
Water to the system, then check the system
Irrigation carries the watering, adjusted seasonally rather than left on one programme all year. The controller itself needs inspecting about twice a year: a blocked dripper or a failed solenoid is invisible until plants start dying above it.
Weed and clear every visit
Weeding and rubbish removal happen at every visit, in beds and turf alike. Weeds compete hardest in the first year, before the planting closes over and shades them out.
Fertilise twice a year
Feed to seasonal demand rather than on a fixed date — typically twice a year, matched to the planting. Natives and exotics do not take the same product; see the guide on feeding Australian native plants.
Prune lightly and often
Minor pruning and shaping at each visit, for plant health and to hold the shape the design intended. Frequent light work avoids the hard cut-back that sets a plant months behind.
Check stakes and ties every visit, and remove them
Adjust or replace damaged stakes and ties as you find them. Once the trunk can stand and hold itself, take them off. Ties left on a thickening trunk girdle it, and a tree that never moves never builds the taper that keeps it standing.
Keep mulch at depth, and top it up once a year
Check the mulch at every visit and top it up annually. It suppresses weeds and holds soil moisture, and both jobs stop when the layer thins.
Replace failures quarterly, and ask why
Review losses about every three months and replace what has failed. A single dead plant is attrition; several in one bed is drainage, irrigation or the wrong plant for the position, and replanting without fixing that just loses the replacements too.
Important
Common mistakes to avoid
- A maintenance period usually runs 52 weeks from practical completion. Establishment is not finished when it ends — the site simply moves onto a normal programme.
- Storm damage, theft and vandalism sit outside routine maintenance. Report them rather than absorbing them into a visit.
This guide provides general horticultural information for Sydney conditions. Site drainage, soil, weather and individual species requirements vary. For tree safety, chemical use or persistent plant decline, use an appropriately qualified professional.
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