I have been tidying a small cottage garden for a couple in Brize Norton, clearning overgrown ivy, weeding the gravel drive and garden, putting in primroses and planting hundreds of bulbs for the Spring. It's been a very satisfying job, bringing back an obviously previously well-tended garden to its full glory but there is still much to do. 

I looked after a delightful, established garden, tidying the beds, bringing the geraniums under control and managing hedges.  The garden is beautiful and is tended by its expert owner.  It  just needs a bit of looking after, which is where I come in.  I also took on the job of mowing the lawns around the property, strimming and keeping it tidy.

I was asked to clear an extensive growth of hypericums in a small area in someone's delightful garden to provide extra space for their various bins and soil for another bed. This was a one day job. The client asked me back to move some earth and plant some pansies to provide some autumn colour.

I cut back a selection of overgrown plants in a small cottage garden. A very wayward yew hedge was taking a lot of light from the garden and from a neighbour's window so I cut it to a nice, neat square and brought it down below the window.  

An overgrown, established ivy was threatening to overwhelm the house and has now been cut down to the ground floor.  A rose and a pyracanthus were also tidied.  The job was done in a day and a half. My tiny hatchback never recovered from the amount of waste it had to take away.

I returned to clear out a gulley beneath the house wall and do some general maintenance, including stopping a small tree from taking over the back area and tidying some very well-established honeysuckle and clematis which was threatening to completely dominate.

A client asked for help clearing an overgrown section of their garden. They had already done a lot of work on the top half of the garden, which looks lovely.  I dug over the next section of the garden,  including dealing with a legion of brambles. 

It is a very large garden which is slowly being transformed. Recently I have been back to remove the brambles behind the garden and to dismantle a large wooden building. I also did a day's work removing well-established weeds ready for the area to be cultivated and latterly I helped to build a greenhouse and a shed.

One of my first jobs: I cleared the overgrown back yard of a coffee shop in Witney, digging up an expanse of bindweed and three huge buddleia, removing the rubbish, laying gravel and jetwashing the path to help create a very nice outside seating area.  No pesticides were used. The job took about six days in total and the refreshments were excellent.

I looked after a large garden once a week for some friends. The very large garden had a number of sections, with four lawns and a lot of hedging to look after.  The work included mowing, clearing weeds, tidying and dealing with any plants which required attention, such as box hedges and acers. 

I am very proud of this job in particular as the garden had an avenue of well-established , topiarised box hedges which had succumbed to blight.  I addressed the problem carefully, removing the signs of blight, treating them and tidying the area to remove all the diseased matter. Returning to visit the garden the following year, I was delighted to see all the hedges in excellent health.  And the bulbs had all bloomed!

I looked after a very well-tended garden in west Witney, weeding, cutting back hedges, weeding, doing a little planting, weeding and generally keeping it looking tidy and very welcoming.

I have maintained a number of very well established hedges for an old friend for many years, normally cutting them back every Autumn but occasionally tidying them at other times.  I also pruned some apple trees and a very long laurel hedge.  The bees didn't like me at all that day and I was unfortunately wearing ear defenders so I missed their requests to stop before it was too late.  I discovered that my 100m pace is a match for anyone.

The job remains a favourite of mine because the views over the valley are quite breathtaking...as is the wind.