All houseowners jointly own the landscaped off-road areas: Merrivale Square, carparks and planting between footpaths and the road. These communal grounds in Waterside are managed by Nicholsons, who are on site every Monday following a programme of work agreed with the Board.

As a house owner or tenant, you are responsible for maintaining your front garden (normally small area between your house and the public path. The Waterside grounds maintenance contractor will NOT touch these plants).

If you are not sure what your area of responsibility is, or how to deal with it, the attached map shows which parts of the gardens are communal and which are private. On these maps, the shrubs and hedges (dark green) and grass (light green) that the Management Board are responsible for maintaining can be seen: The Villas, The Crescent, Balliol Court, Merton Court, Merrivale Square, Plater Drive.

 

In 2021 the gardeners started a 4 weekly work schedule, and if you have comments or suggestions relating to the communal grounds, please pass them on to John Krebs using the form below so that they can be incorporated into the future work programme. Please do not ask the Contractors directly to undertake work

 

In addition to routine maintenance, Nicholsons undertake, depending on available budgets and at the request of the Management Committee, specific projects to enhance the gardens. The latest (2020) regeneration project has included planting new shrubs, trees and ornamental grasses throughout Waterside. For list of plants click here.  The Residents Association also carries out minor projects, such as bulb and hedgerow planting, as well as litter picking.  If you are interested in helping with these, please contact us.  Some of the larger trees on Waterside are covered by Tree Preservation Orders, so cannot be pruned or removed without permission from the City Council.  If in doubt, please ask John Krebs.

 

The gardens are there to give us all pleasure and to enhance the appearance of Waterside, so please do your bit by keeping the outward facing parts of your private garden in good condition.

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Current Issues

Nicholsons the gardening contractors advise that Viburnum Beetle is infecting plants in Waterside and that Viburnum tinus and Viburnum opulus are particularly badly affected.  They would not recommend planting these shrubs in your garden.  For further advice look at the RHS site 

 

Box bushes/hedges may be affected by box blight Cylindrocladium buxicola, a fungal disease, and as a precautionary measure, Nicholsons are not trimming the box hedges as tightly as normal, in order to reduce the likelihood of infection, which may be encouraged by tight trimming.

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A number of people are concerned that the Lonicera hedges (and other hedges) have not been cut in the spring.   Nicholsons’ policy is to wait until the end of the nesting season (July) before cutting hedges to avoid cutting through bird nests with babies in them.

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Access to the Canal via Merton Court

All Waterside residents have the right to use this locked gate, but you will need the security code to gain access from the Canal Tow Path. This is C1374

If you have any comments or suggestions please contact John Krebs using the form below - not Nicholsons.