Case Study Desford Hall

Maintaining the beautiful grounds with Smith Grayson

CASE STUDY

Smith Grayson took over the contract to maintain the grounds of Desford Hall in July 2019 after being approached by the managing agents, who were very unhappy with the service that their current contractor was providing.

Cutting the

lawns

Weeding the flower

beds

Tree Surgery, felling and crown lifting

Tree

planting

THE STORY

Originally built circa 1875 as a country house, Grade II listed Desford Hall and its neighbouring Coach House, is one of Leicestershire’s most unique office spaces and has previously been headquarters for well-known local brands including Next and Everards.

Smith Grayson already manages several other estates for this agent, so we were very happy to add Desford Hall to the existing portfolio.

As with most contracts that are referred to us, the current contractor had not been looking after these grounds, so they were maintained to a poor standard.

THE GOAL

THE SOLUTION

The Smith Grayson grounds maintenance teams set about cutting the lawns with the correct mowers for the job. We used a combination of collection tractors, and zero turn machines to go over the large formal lawns to remove the built-up thatch and mulch and to cut the grass to the correct height to get the best finish, and beautiful stripes.

As it was mid-summer when we took the contract on the weeds that had not been controlled previously had unfortunately already started to seed in the flower beds, so a lot of hand weeding was required.

The site has a blanket Tree Preservation Order on it, and there were several trees requiring surgery, felling and crown lifting so an application was submitted to the local authority to complete the work in the winter when the trees are dormant, which was approved.

We also applied to the governments Free Tree Planting Scheme to replace some old Horse Chestnut trees that sadly had to be felled due to disease.

The following spring the estate benefitted from Smith Grayson re-planting several the flower beds with hardy perennials, to keep the site looking beautiful with colour all year round.

THE RESULT

The estate continues to receive year-round weekly visits to ensure that the grounds are kept maintained to a high standard. All lawns are cut on the same day each week during mowing season and the hedges, flower beds and trees tended to at the correct times of the year.

Services used