Hill Farm Landscapes is a small landscaping business based near Colchester in Essex currently seeking an experienced landscaper and fencer to join our growing team.

We offer good long term prospects for the successful applicant as we are looking for long term involvement from the right people.

This position requires someone with previous experience in fencing, paving, decking, patios, driveways etc and who is reliable, adaptable and who can work on their own initiative. Excellent verbal and personal skills are also necessary to communicate effectively with our clients.

The applicant must also have a full drivers licence.

Please apply to mark@hillfarmlandscapes.com.

Visit our vacancies page to see our latest job opportunities.

It’s hard to believe that we’re only a couple of weeks away from Christmas and the team at Hill Farm Landscapes are busy finishing off a range of landscaping projects before the break.

However the weather does at last feel more appropriate and seasonally chilly! Which has led us to think about the types of jobs we should be looking at doing in the garden in the coming days.

1. Look at your winter protection – if you have a greenhouse, check your heaters are working

2. Prune your apples and pears

3. Prune acers and vines

4. Prevent ponds and stand pipes from freezing

5. Prepare for the mouse invasion!

Have a great Christmas and a happy New Year!

Hill Farm Landscapes is a recommended landscape gardener in Essex. Please see our testimonials

Planting Tips for February and March – the days are getting longer and Spring is on its way.Signs are obvious in your garden or open space at work; wildlife is starting to get active again and the garden is getting ready to welcome the longer days and warming weather.

It would be a good idea to start pruning shrubs, particularly the winter flowering ones that have stopped flowering this wintre.

As bird life is starting to wake up, it would be a good idea to cover your fruit and vegetable crops to protect them.

You could also prepare your rose beds so that they are ready to go! Don’t prepare them in frosty or very wet conditions.

Planting tips would also be to do some research on plants you want for spring planting for summer-flowering bulbs and bedding plants.

You may need to think about stakes and ties.

Enjoy this time of preparation ready for the busier times ahead.

If you need any help with creating beds, raided beds, garden clearance or heavy pruning please Contact Us

January and February is a good time to think about looking after the wildlife in your garden, especially with children.

Leave dead stems, leaves and piles of twigs in a corner of the garden to provide extra cover for over wintering wildlife. Put out hedgehog food for hedgehogs who are disturbed from their winter slumbers and go in search of food.

Look after the garden birds. Although it hasn’t been too cold so far this year, extra food plus a ready supply of fresh water will help them to survive when things get tougher.

Fat balls, bird seed and peanut cake provide calories and a bird table keeps food hygienic and away from pets and vermin. A frost-proof bird bath ensures the birds have an ever important supply of fresh water and an old tennis ball in the water helps to prevent it from freezing over.

Clear out any old bird boxes ready for spring. In just a few weeks birds will begin prospecting for a place to nest and old nesting materials can harbour disease. Now is also the ideal time to put up new nest boxes. These will have time to blend in with the surroundings before the nesting season gets into full swing.

And why not carry out a survey of the birds visiting your garden. Then by repeating it every month you’ll be able to see how bird population changes through the seasons.

Mark will be looking to complete the challenging 147 mile long Sea to Sea Cycle Route (C2C) in May to raise funds for the Jenny Green Challenge Fund for Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

The C2C is a real challenge with some seriously hard climbs – the highest point being over 2000 feet. It starts in the former coal mining and industrial lands of West Cumbria, travels through the stunning scenery of the northern Lake District and heads into Keswick before passing through Penrith and the Eden Valley with its lush valleys and sandstone villages. It ends with a ride through one of Britain’s old industrial heartlands to the North Sea and Sunderland.

MND is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks the upper and lower motor neurones. It leads to weakness and wasting of muscles, causing increasing loss of mobility in the limbs, and difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing.

You can help us raise money for MND by visiting our Just Giving page here.