Gardening for life.

I travel to gardens by bicycle and trailer. This means I don’t need to travel by motor vehicle, reducing my reliance on fossil fuels and contribution to other related pollution both locally and . Travelling by bicycle does, however, limit the distance I am able to travel.

I can work in the following postcodes for a minimum of 2 hours:

E10 (Leyton)

E11 (Leytonstone & Wanstead

E17 (Walthamstow)

I can work in the following postcodes for a minimum of 3.5 hours:

E4 (Chingford)

E5 (Clapton)

E7 (Forest Gate)

For more information on the types of gardening services that I offer, please check out the ‘gardening services’ tab at the top of the page or click on the following links: Maintenance gardening; Gardening for wildlife; Fruit tree care; Forest garden design & maintenance; Home composting; Sheds, fences & planters.

For life.

Our gardens are spaces that we share with numerous other life-forms, both wild and cultivated. In Greater London, private, domestic gardens make up approximately 23% of landcover.In recent decades, this space has been transforming from green to grey as vegetation is removed and replaced with materials such as paving and concrete that are often impermeable to life and water. This is often done with little sensitivity to or consideration of the wider impacts of an impermeable city and can result in urban flooding and increasingly fragmented habitats.

The good news is, we can have a massive impact on that 23% of land cover if we tend our gardens in ways that are supportive and sustaining of life. There is an amazing opportunity here.

We can totally realise ecologically rich gardenscapes that are beautiful, useful and provide us with joy and nourishment. Green spaces that are full of life can help us to relax and be at peace in a busy, often stressful city. They can also provide us and our communities with food; food free from the chemical fertilisers and pesticides that blight so much of the affordable food that is available to us today; food that can be shared; food that is healthy, diverse, interesting, sustaining of life.

All this said, I fully appreciate the need to consider access in gardens and am very aware of the constraints on time that might motivate people to want a lower maintenance garden. I am keen to discuss and to work with people to find a balance that works for all.

I currently charge a basic rate of £32.50 per hour for the first two hours of work and £29.50 per hour for any additional hours*.

I charge for a minimum of 2 hours per gardening session.

For more information on my pricing, please see here: www.jonnythelivinggardener.co.uk/pricing

*I aim to increase my rate annually in line with increases of the London Living Wage by the Living Wage Foundation. This tends to be announced in the Autumn. I aim to inform clients of the price increase at this time with changes to my hourly charge being implemented from 1st January each year.