Frequently Asked Question's

Do you offer services to both residential and business customers?

Yes. Work varies from consultancy for residential property agents, through to visits to urban gardens and rural estate properties.

For commercial clients and larger residential projects, a region-wide service is offered. For smaller residential projects, services are available in the Darlington area.

Do you offer a garden maintenance or landscaping service?

No. In some instances I can facilitate a limited amount of session work in order to fulfil any immediate remedial need, or deliver on-site training to your staff.

What areas do you cover?

I'm based in Darlington and for most visits I tend to stick to the Darlington area, but I do regularly travel to Low Middleton, Yarm, Crathorne and into North Yorkshire.

If you're not sure, drop me a line, sometimes I'm happy to travel and will simply include expenses for this if that is the case.

Do you have a minimum size job?

No. I've provided consultation for small town gardens and rural estate prperties, as well as urban residential housing estates.

What exactly is covered by your services?

I offer bespoke horticultural consultancy focused on the management and maintenance of soft landscapes - the living elements of your garden or grounds.

I do not offer dispute resolution, expert witness services, consultancy on hard landscaping, arboricultural surveys or aquatic invasive weed surveys.

In terms of horticultural consultancy I do not advise on the commercial growing fruit and vegetables, nor do I advise on nursery production of plants or operation of garden centres, though my services do extend to using drones to gather high resolution images of crop fields for farmers and growers, which can be used for making assessments of crop health and performance.

I'm not really sure what kind of assistance I need, can you help?

Yes! Drop me a line or give me a call. It is often easier for me to work out what your problem actually is even if you are not entirely sure yourself.

How much is it?

This varies enormously. Horticultural consultancy starts from £150 for a small town garden. In some instances this could even include a small amount of immediate remedial work and green waste removed. Larger sites and estates will obviously cost more, but drones can be used for assessment to keep survey costs affordable. Expenses are added on for jobs outside the Darlington area.

What are your typical lead times?

This varies, but usually around 2-8 weeks. Lead times generally increase from late spring into summer and decrease significantly as winter approaches.

What is your experience and training?

I am a Professional Horticulturist who has been awarded by the Institute of Horticulture and Royal Horticultural Society, but my life in the garden started as a young child in my Grandad's allotment, growing flowers and vegetables for food and exhibition during the late 70's and early 80's.

I began my career in 1987 - I started in ground maintenance with local authorities in County Durham, gained a National Cetificate in Horticulture and was subsequently employed as a site supervisor for Eslington, a 30 acre site, by the National Garden Festival in Gateshead. During my time with the festival, i was also responsible for delivering skills based training to horticultural staff.

I went on to gain a National Diploma in Horticulture, following this I spent a decade delivering bespoke skills based horticultural training for a variety of North East based training centers, developing training programmes and delivering assessment and verification for NVQ approved centers. In addition to delivering in-house training, i was also responsible for the delivery of on-site training for horticultural apprentices, employed by local authorities.

I've been fortunate to have worked for many prestigious employers over the years, including Tresco Abbey Gardens on the Scilly Isles, as well as many years running my own successful gardening service, before moving into areas of rewilding, permaculture, drone technology and ultimately setting up my consultancy business.

Are you accredited?

Yes. I am a fully-accredited consulting and contracting member of The Gardeners Guild.

Are you insured?

Yes. I have full professional indemnity and public liability insurance.

Do you offer consultancy by phone or video call?

Yes I do, though it is not possible in all cases. Drop me a line or give me a call and we can work out if I can help.

Do you need to visit the garden or site?

This depends. It is almost always better if I can visit the site, but I understand that this is not always possible.

Can I purchase your services for a friend as a gift?

Yes. For bespoke residential consultancy, I can provide a PDF gift token and the recipient can then arrange the date of the consultation after receiving the gift.

I'm still not sure, can I call for a chat?

Of course! Drop me a line on graeme.morpheus.com or call 07759 219203 and leave a message.