Landscape Maintenance Handover Preparation Checklist

Ask for a marked-up copy of the layout showing where things ended up, since almost every garden departs from the drawing in small ways.

A drawing that reflects the built result is the document a future professional will want, and it can only be produced now.

Walk the garden holding the drawing and note every place the built result differs from what was shown.

Owner-noticed differences are often deliberate and sensible, but they need recording rather than remembering.

Ask for the planting schedule as actually supplied, including anything substituted along the way and where each substitution went.

A schedule that matches the ground is what allows a plant to be identified or replaced correctly in future.

Write down the position of anything that was moved during the work, such as an access cover, an outside tap or a meter box.

Relocated items become invisible once planting matures, and their positions are easy to record while they are still obvious.

Note which materials were used where, described in enough detail that you could ask for the same thing again.

A description written now is what makes a later repair possible; a photograph alone rarely allows a confident match.

Ask whether any part of the work was left incomplete or deferred, and get that written down rather than left as a shared understanding.

Deferred items are remembered differently by each party once the team has moved to another site.

Ask for photographs of every trench, duct and pipe run taken before backfilling, and keep them together with the drawing.

Photographs of open ground are the only record of what lies beneath, and nobody takes them retrospectively.

Write down roughly where each buried run crosses grass or a bed, measured from something permanent such as a wall corner or a post.

A position tied to a fixed feature stays usable long after the surface has changed, unlike a mark on the ground.

Ask where any cable, sleeve or spare duct was left for future use, and mark those positions clearly on your record.

Spare provision left for later is worthless if nobody can find it, and it is forgotten almost as soon as the team leaves.

Never assume a buried cable is dead or safe to disturb; a qualified electrician must establish what is present before any digging.

Note where any soakaway, sump or chamber sits, and ask what may not be placed on top of it afterwards.

Owners routinely build sheds and plant trees over drainage components because nobody wrote down where they were.

What may be placed over drainage components is a matter for a qualified professional and the relevant local requirements.

Ask for photographs of the ground preparation beneath new surfaces before they were laid over.

The layers under a surface determine how it behaves, and a photographic record settles later questions quickly.

Record anything that was left in the ground, such as an old foundation or a redundant pipe, and note where it was found.

Anything left below ground constrains future work, and its position is worth capturing while it is still known.

Ask what watering the new planting needs while it establishes, and write the answer down at the time rather than trusting recall.

Establishment watering is the single most common reason new planting fails, and the guidance is specific to what was planted.

Watering needs vary with weather, soil and species; ask the people who planted it rather than relying on general guidance.

Write down who is doing that watering and what happens when they are away from the property.

Watering routines collapse during absences, and a named alternative is easier to arrange before the gap arrives.

Ask which plants are most likely to struggle in their positions here and what would signal that something is wrong.

Early signs are easy to act on and easy to miss, and the people who planted them know which ones to watch.

Note whether any planting was staked, tied or protected, and ask what should happen to that support later on.

Ties left in place cut into growing stems, and the removal never happens if nobody was told to expect it.

Ask what you should do before assuming a plant has died, and what happens if something fails to establish at all.

Plants that appear dead often are not, and knowing what to check avoids replacing something unnecessarily.

Record whether any turf or seeded area needs to be kept clear of traffic, and until what point that applies.

New grass is damaged in the period nobody realised it was vulnerable, usually by the household itself.

Restrictions on using new grass or new surfaces should come from the people who carried out the work, in writing.

Ask where each outdoor circuit is isolated, and make sure at least one person in the household can find that point unaided.

The isolation point is needed at the worst possible moment, which is never when there is time to search for it.

Isolation, testing and any alteration to an outdoor electrical installation must be carried out by a qualified electrician.

Write down which switch or control operates which lights, since this is forgotten almost as soon as the team leaves.

Lighting controls make perfect sense on the day they are demonstrated and none at all a season later.

Ask for the operating information for any controller, timer or pump, and keep it with the rest of the garden record.

Operating information is small, easily lost and impossible to reconstruct once the equipment is unfamiliar.

Ask how an irrigation arrangement is drained or shut down before cold weather, and who would normally carry that out.

Shutdown is a seasonal task that is missed in the first cold spell after installation more often than in any other.

Winter shutdown and any work on an outdoor water supply should be carried out or confirmed by a qualified professional.

Note where the outside tap isolates from inside the house, and make sure that is written somewhere findable rather than remembered.

Owners search for this in an emergency, and the person who knew is rarely the person standing there.

Ask what documentation you should receive for the outdoor electrical work, and keep it with the property papers.

Paperwork issued at handover is asked for by others later, and it is difficult to obtain once time has passed.

What paperwork applies to electrical work is a matter for the qualified electrician and the relevant local requirements.

Ask what each new surface needs in the way of cleaning, and specifically what should never be used on it.

Surfaces are more often damaged by well-intentioned cleaning than by weather or use.

Cleaning methods and products for a specific surface must be confirmed with the people who supplied and laid it.

Write down which surfaces are likely to become slippery in shade or wet weather, and exactly where those areas are.

Knowing which stretch turns slippery lets the household take it seriously before somebody discovers it the hard way.

Ask what treatment any timber element will need and at what point it would first be due.

Timber left untreated past its first requirement is difficult to bring back, and the point is easy to miss without a note.

Note where some movement or settlement would be normal, and what would instead be worth reporting.

Owners either worry about everything or notice nothing, and a stated boundary between the two is genuinely useful.

Whether movement in a surface or structure matters is a judgement for a qualified professional rather than an owner assessment.

Ask what the jointing between paving units is and how it should be dealt with when weeds appear in it.

The wrong approach to joints removes them, and the material used is not obvious by looking at the surface.

Record which gates, hinges and fixings will need attention over time, and where any adjustment points are.

Gates drop and fixings loosen predictably, and knowing where to adjust turns a recurring annoyance into a small task.

Ask where every gully, channel and access chamber is, and walk to each one so you could find it in heavy rain.

Locations learned in daylight and dry weather are the ones you can still find when it matters.

Write down which components hold a trap or a silt bucket that fills up and needs emptying.

Silt buckets are the most common cause of a drain appearing to fail, and most owners never learn they exist.

Ask what would tell you that the drainage is not coping, and what you should do before it becomes a bigger problem.

Early signs are visible at ground level, and knowing them means a professional is called at a useful moment.

Blocked or failing drainage is a matter for a qualified professional and, where a shared system is involved, the relevant provider.

Note where water is intended to leave each surface, so you would notice if it stopped doing so.

You cannot spot a change in behaviour without knowing what the intended behaviour was.

Ask whether any part of the drainage is shared with a neighbour or connects to anything beyond your boundary.

A shared arrangement changes who has to be involved when something goes wrong, and it is worth knowing in advance.

Shared or connected drainage arrangements must be confirmed with the relevant provider and the local authority.

Record which covers can be lifted by hand and which need a tool or a second person, and note where any tool was left.

A cover that cannot be lifted might as well not be reachable, and the required tool is easily left behind on site.

Ask for spare units of every surfacing material to be left on site, and store them somewhere out of the weather.

Material from the same batch is the only reliable way to make an invisible repair later.

Write down the full description of each material as supplied, since ranges change and a photograph alone rarely allows a match.

A written description survives the discontinuation of a range in a way that a sample or a memory does not.

Note where paint, stain or treatment was used, and ask for each description to be written down rather than left in somebody's head.

Touching up outdoor timber or metal is straightforward only when the original treatment is known.

Ask what you should do if a material has been discontinued by the time you need to repair something.

The answer usually involves keeping a spare or accepting a visible difference, and it is better understood in advance.

Keep a labelled photograph of each spare item so the store still makes sense to somebody who was not there.

An unlabelled stack of offcuts is discarded by the next person who tidies the shed.

Record where the spares are kept and tell the rest of the household, since they are usually found only after they were needed.

Spares stored quietly are lost during the next clear-out, which tends to happen before the first repair.

Walk the whole garden with the contractor before the team leaves, at a time of day when you can see the surfaces properly.

Poor light hides the marks and level differences you would otherwise raise while somebody is still there to discuss them.

Write everything you notice into one list rather than mentioning items individually as you go around.

Points raised in passing are answered in passing, whereas a written list gets a written response.

Ask who to contact about a question after the team has gone, and whether that contact changes over time.

The person who was on site is often not the person to contact afterwards, and knowing that early saves effort.

Note what cover applies to the planting, the surfaces and any structure, and keep the written statement of it with your record.

What was said about cover during the project rarely matches what is written, and only the written version is usable.

Ask what you should avoid doing to the new work while it is still settling, and record the answer rather than relying on memory.

New outdoor work is most easily damaged by the household during the period right after completion.

Instructions about new surfaces and new planting should come in writing from the people who carried out the work.

Record the walk round with photographs of the whole garden, so the condition at handover is documented rather than argued about.

A dated set of photographs at handover settles most later questions about what changed and when.