Our Community Spaces team, work hard throughout the year to keep customer’s communal areas well-maintained, welcoming and safe.

In this blog, our gardeners, Jack and Billy, share what a typical day looks like for them.

Starting the day

The team’s day usually begins with a walk around the area they’re working on to assess what needs attention – this could be a communal garden, hedging, or in some cases an individual customer request if the team has capacity.

Jack says, “Depending on the time of year, when we first arrive in a particular area, we do a walk-around and risk assessment, litter pick, trim hedges, cut grass, weed spray (weather permitting) and make sure everything is safe, clean and tidy for all customers before we leave.

“As the seasons change, so do our responsibilities. Later in the year, the leaves start to fall so we follow the same routine as the summer period, but we start using our leaf blowers and collect the fallen leaves. From November through to March, growth generally slows during the colder months, but we’re still checking whether any litter picking needs doing, and carrying out the bulk of the major hedge reductions to help make it easier for us over the coming growing season.

“As well as the routine gardening work, we have other jobs to complete through the year too, such as garden clearances, fencing, flagging gravel and gritting jobs – you might hear us call these type of tasks ‘curtilage work‘ as they take place directly next to customer homes, rather than in the communal areas.

“As part of ongoing improvements, the team has been working hard to give communal areas at some schemes a fresh new look. One example is at Ingle Court where we replaced the old, rotten wooden raised beds with sleek, rendered breeze blocks topped with coping stones. Not only does this give the space a cleaner, more modern appearance, but it also boosts durability for the long term.”

When it comes to creating beautiful gardens and landscapes, the team collaborate and share ideas.

Billy says, “Some of the areas we work on have already inherited lots of lovely plants so we just continue to maintain these and keep them tidy and looking nice for our customers. But when the growing season starts, we can get creative and look at different planting.”

Teamwork

Jack says, “We’ve got 4 teams that split into different areas across the Leeds Federated sites, the blue team, red team, green and yellow.

“The green team are mainly Leeds based. The sizes of these schemes vary from big open areas that have to be maintained by mowing, strimming and pruning, to small courtyards outside Hyde Park homes that just need a litter pick and a weed spray. No job is the same at Leeds Federated’s homes!

“The yellow team cover the largest areas. They’ll travel to Ripon and Harrogate on some days and covers a large part of Wakefield too.

“Our red team also works in partnership with Unity Housing Association to carry out all their communal grounds maintenance work.”

“You move around a lot during the day depending on what team you’re in and some jobs might not take as long as others and others you’ll be there for a while. For example, Fewston Court has a larger outside area and would typically need 3 gardeners. Last year we worked with customers to plant a beautiful wildflower area which we can’t wait to see bloom over summer.”

Health and safety first

Billy says, “When we visit the area we’re working on, we do a lot of health and safety checks to make sure there aren’t any hazards around.

“We sometimes come across hazardous objects, which we report immediately. Thanks to the training we’ve received from Health and Safety Manager, Gavin, we know how to handle situations like this properly.”

Building a good rapport with customers

Being out and about most days, the team meet a lot of customers on their site visits.

Jack says, “We like to say hello to customers if they pass by. We often see the same customers, so over time we get to know them.”

Billy adds, “We might be the first person a customer sees all day or the only person they see so we like to make conversation. Some customers ask us for advice about potted plants they’re growing themselves.

“It’s important to build good relationships with customers and it’s nice when we see new faces and meet new people.”

Favourite parts

Jack says, “One of my favourite parts of the role is being outside all day, especially in spring and summer when the weather is nice.

I enjoy making the outdoor areas look nice and tidy for customers and it’s great to work in a team of supportive colleagues – we get on well and help each other out.”