A Surrey village green with a cricket square and tile-hung cottages

A local gardener for Bletchingley

Regular garden care on the greensand ridge, about five and a half miles from our Horley base.

If you’re after a gardener in Bletchingley, find one who knows what the ridge does to a garden. Most of the village sits on greensand, which drains quickly and dries out in a hot spell. Head south down Outwood Lane and the parish runs onto Wealden Clay, which does the opposite. We’re based in Horley, about five and a half miles away, and our rounds cover both kinds of ground.

The village itself is unusual. The medieval borough left long, narrow plots behind the houses on the north side of the High Street, some running around 90 metres back and still divided by old stone walls. Around that core you get the inter and post-war roads, the 1980s houses at Clerks Croft and Town Mead, and a lot of semis. Each asks for something slightly different.

Garden services in Bletchingley.

What Bletchingley gardens need most

Regular maintenance is the bulk of it: a fortnightly visit covering the lawn, edges, beds and whichever hedge or shrub is due that month. On the sandier gardens near the High Street, lawns want a higher cut in summer or they scorch. Hedges and climbers are the other big job, because so many older boundaries here are brick or soft local sandstone, and anything growing against them has to be cut without scraping the wall. Main hedge cuts are planned for September to February, after nesting season.

Gardening inside the conservation area

The centre of Bletchingley has been a conservation area since 1969. It covers about 18 hectares, including those long back gardens. For lawns, beds and hedges it changes very little. Trees are a different matter: cutting, topping or lopping anything but the smallest needs six weeks’ notice to the council. We don’t do tree work, so if a tree needs attention we’ll say so and leave it to an arborist.

The commercial side of the village

Bletchingley’s commercial grounds grew up around the old market place: pub gardens at the Whyte Harte, the Red Lion and the Bletchingley Arms, shops and businesses in historic buildings along the High Street, two schools, the parish cemetery on Godstone Road and the churchyard at St Mary’s. For sites like these we write a yearly schedule, fix the price and invoice monthly or quarterly.

Grounds maintenance for Bletchingley businesses.

Annual contracts for blocks, offices, schools, care homes, churches and landlords.

Gardening in Bletchingley: your questions

Anything else, just ring. You’ll speak to the people who do the work.

Do you cover Pendell, Brewer Street and the lanes around the village?

Yes. We cover the whole parish and roughly 15 miles around Horley, which takes in Nutfield, Godstone and Outwood as well. Being on a regular round makes even a small front garden worth the trip.

Can you get a mower into a High Street cottage garden with no side access?

Usually. Lots of older houses in the centre open straight onto the pavement, so the mower comes through the house. Mention it when you ring and we’ll bring smaller kit and protect the floors.

How much does a gardener in Bletchingley cost?

It depends on the size of the garden, how easy it is to reach and how often you want us. A 90-metre walled plot takes longer than a semi’s back lawn. We’ll walk round with you and give you a fixed price, free.