Garden consultant? or what do you call this service?

MichaelR

Hello,

We are in county Limerick, not far from the city, in a small-ish demi-detached house in an estate. The garden, also small-ish, is north-facing and the part close to the house rarely sees any sun except in the late afternoon.

The garden consists of a concreted area closer to the house and mostly soil further away. Because of the lack of sun, there's a lot of algae in the concreted area and we're not able to clean it fully.

The garden is rather cluttered. My wife does grow some vegetables but would also appreciate a relaxation area, preferably with enough sun but also some rain protection; it does not seem clear where and how to create it. The concretre surface needs to be renewed or covered (resin? tile?) to avoid the algae. And so on, and so forth.

There are companies offering various particular services, but frankly we need to design things first. Yet this is a really small garden and we don't want to go planting some fancy things, so I guess the grand term "landscaping" does not really apply.

I guess we want a specialist who could first offer a general plan, then, when the plan is agreed, do the jobs or get the companies to do the jobs. But I'm not even sure whom I am looking for, let alone how to find this person or company! Advice would be much appreciated.

rje66

Any half decent landscaping business will do all the work, I.e. design it and build it. Word of mouth in the area is best way to find people, ask neighbours and friends. Failing that, ask in local paving suppliers or plant nurseries. Not the likes if Woodies, but specialised suppliers. Don't use Facebook .

phormium

The algae is forming because it's facing north, the concrete replacement assuming it's another hard surface will probably grow the same thing. I have found bleach mixed with same amount of water and brushed on great for removing algae, I also spray it on my front wall which also faces north and is meant to be white but turns practically green and it clears it in minutes.