Winter Garden Protection — Service Terms
These terms sit alongside our general Customer Terms and our Privacy Policy.
1 What the Winter Garden Protection is
The Winter Garden Protection is an end-of-season visit to get your garden ready for the colder months and to plan the year to come. During the visit we will assess what needs preparing for winter, carry out practical winter protection, and discuss any help you would like for your garden in the year ahead.
It is a focused visit of up to 50 minutes, with a 60-minute booking slot allowing 10 minutes for travel between customer sites. Within that time, we carry out as much winter preparation as we can, working through the tasks that matter most for your garden. If you require additional work, just book extra hours the same day or on other days.
2 What we do during the visit
Depending on your garden and the time available, the visit can include:
Wrapping and protecting containers and tender plants against frost
Laying mulch to protect roots and beds over winter
Staking and securing plants vulnerable to winter wind and storms
Tying back climbers and securing anything likely to be damaged
Checking for overwintering slugs and snails where we can
Preparing winter shelter for hedgehogs and other garden wildlife
Managing autumn debris — removing diseased or problematic material and clearing selected areas where appropriate, while leaving useful leaf litter and protective material where it benefits plants or wildlife.
We will agree with you what to prioritise and carry out as much as possible within the visit.
3 If more time is needed
The Winter Garden Protection is a single visit of up to 50 minutes. If your garden needs more winter work than fits into that time, any additional work can be booked separately as further Winter Garden Protection visits, charged at our hourly rate shown on our website. This keeps the cost of the work clear and predictable. Where consecutive hours are booked at the same property, no travel time is deducted and the customer receives a full 60 minutes of work for each booked hour.
4 Materials
We carry common winter materials with us — such as fleece, stakes, and mulch or bark which you can buy if you would like us to use them at the prices shown at the time. Materials are charged separately from the visit and are entirely optional; we will always agree any materials with you before using them.
5 Price and payment
The Winter Garden Protection is charged at the price shown on our website, which is the definitive source for our pricing. From time to time we offer the check free or at a reduced price to subscribers and established customers, or as part of another booking — where this applies, your price is shown when you book. Payment is by invoice after the visit, payable within 7 days.
6 Winter Garden Protection discount vouchers
Customers who spend more than £150 with Hortimate during a calendar year will receive a voucher for one free 50-minute Winter Garden Protection visit. The voucher covers the visit time only; any additional work, materials or other chargeable services are payable separately.
7 Booking and combining with a garden survey
Any Hortimate Club member can book a Winter Garden Protection; you do not need to have had a garden survey first. If you would like, the check can be combined with a free garden survey in a single visit — just ask when you book, and the survey is carried out under our Garden Survey terms.
8 What we can and cannot promise
We carry out the visit with reasonable skill and care. Winter protection reduces the risk of cold and storm damage but cannot prevent it entirely — plants are living things and hard weather can still take its toll. We will always do a careful job and tell you what we have done and what we recommend.
9 Garden green waste
Garden debris will be managed according to what is best for the garden. Diseased or problematic material and selected debris may be removed, while useful leaf litter and protective material may be left in place. Where material does need to be removed, larger quantities may incur an additional disposal charge.
10 How we contact you
We will contact you about your booking by email and, where you have agreed to it, by SMS. You can manage your SMS preference in your member profile. How we use your contact details is explained in our Privacy Policy.
11 Access and your responsibilities
You are responsible for providing safe access to your garden and telling us about any hazards or anything we should know. If you will not be home, please make sure we can get in and have let us know your priorities for the visit.
12 General
Our general Customer Terms and our Privacy Policy apply to the Winter Garden Protection. Where these terms cover something specific to the check, they apply in addition to our general terms.