Property Maintenance Program for Chester County & the Main Line

JHL maintains properties across Chester County, Delaware County, and the Main Line on a single annual program: mowing through the growing season, spring and fall cleanups, mulch and bed care, and seasonal color at the entry. You do not need to be a design client. If you have a landscape that needs looking after, we will look after it — and because we are a design-build company, we notice the things a mowing route does not, like a failing drain line or a shrub that has outgrown its spot.

One Program, Not Five Vendors

Most properties in our area end up with a mowing crew, a separate mulch delivery, someone else for cleanups, and nobody at all watching the beds. Work gets duplicated, things fall between the cracks, and no one is accountable for how the property actually looks in July. Our program puts the whole year on one schedule with one crew and one point of contact.

What the Annual Program Covers

Recurring mowing, string trimming and hard-surface blow-down through the growing season
Spring cleanup: bed clearing, cutbacks, first edge and mulch
Fall cleanup and leaf management, staged across the drop rather than done once
Bed edging, weed management and mulch refreshed to correct depth
Seasonal color at entries, containers and focal beds
Shrub and hedge pruning at the right point in each plant's cycle
A written scope and schedule before the season starts, so you know what happens and when

Programs are quoted per property after a walk-through. Lot size, bed area, tree cover and how much leaf load you carry in November all move the number, so we would rather look at it than guess.

Mowing That Does Not Wreck the Rest of the Property

Mowing is where most damage on a maintained property comes from. Scalped high spots, string-trimmer girdling on young tree trunks, ruts cut into wet clay in April, and beds that lose an inch of edge every year until the shape is gone. We mow at a height appropriate to the season rather than the calendar, keep blades sharp so the leaf tears clean, and stay off saturated ground.

In our soils that matters more than it sounds. Chester County clay compacts badly under repeated wheel traffic in wet conditions, and compacted soil is the root cause of a surprising share of the thin turf and struggling shrubs we get called about.

Through the Season

Spring: cutbacks, bed clearing, first mow and edge, mulch, pre-emergent where appropriate
Summer: mowing on a set interval, weed pressure managed, watering guidance during drought stress
Fall: staged leaf management, cutbacks on perennials that should be cut, aeration and overseeding where the lawn warrants it
Winter: dormant pruning, bed and hardscape inspection, planning for the following season

Cleanups, Mulch and Seasonal Color as One-Offs

Not every property needs a full program. Spring cleanup, fall cleanup, a mulch refresh, bed renovation and seasonal color are all available as standalone jobs, and plenty of clients start there before moving onto the annual schedule.

Mulch depth is the one we argue about most. Two to three inches does what mulch is supposed to do. Deeper than that and you are holding water against crowns and stems, encouraging roots to grow up into the mulch layer, and in the worst cases suffocating shrubs that were perfectly healthy three years ago. We pull mulch back off trunks and crowns rather than piling it against them.

Maintenance on Landscapes We Did Not Build

We take on properties JHL did not design or install. There is no requirement that we built it. What we will do on the first visit is tell you honestly what we are inheriting: which plants are in the wrong place, where water is going, what was installed badly, and what is going to become a problem in two or three years.

Sometimes that conversation leads to a renovation. Often it does not, and we simply maintain what is there properly. Both outcomes are fine. What we will not do is mow around a problem for six years without mentioning it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be an existing JHL design client? No. The property maintenance program is open to any property in our service area, whether or not JHL designed or built the landscape. We will walk the property, tell you what we are taking on, and quote the program from there.

Do you do weekly mowing? Yes. Recurring mowing through the growing season is part of the annual program, and mowing interval is set to the property and the season rather than a fixed weekly route. Call (610) 422-3474 to have your property looked at.

Can I book just a spring or fall cleanup? Yes. Spring cleanups, fall cleanups, leaf management, mulch refreshes and seasonal color are all available as standalone jobs. Many clients start with a single cleanup and move to the annual program the following season.

How much does a maintenance program cost? It is quoted per property after a walk-through. Lot size, bed area, tree canopy and leaf load are the main drivers, and they vary enough between a Havertown township lot and a Chadds Ford acreage property that a phone estimate would not be honest. Call (610) 422-3474 and we will come look.

What areas do you cover? We run maintenance out of both offices: Chester County towns from our West Chester studio at 701 S Franklin St, and Delaware County and the Main Line from Newtown Square. That covers West Chester, Malvern, Exton, Downingtown, Kennett Square, Chadds Ford, Newtown Square, Wayne, Villanova, Gladwyne, Bryn Mawr, Havertown and the surrounding townships.

How is this different from your design-client maintenance? Our design-quality maintenance is curated stewardship for landscapes JHL designed and built, tended to the original design intent. The property maintenance program is the broader service: mowing, cleanups, mulch, bed care and seasonal color for any property in the service area. Some clients move from one to the other over time.

Property Maintenance by Town

Areas We Serve

West Chester, PA — Chester County properties maintained from our studio at 701 S Franklin St
Newtown Square & the Main Line — Delaware County and Main Line properties maintained from our Newtown Square office
Malvern, Exton, Downingtown, Kennett Square, Wayne, Villanova, Havertown — served towns

Ready to start? Request a consultation or call (610) 422-3474.

About JHL Landscape Design

JHL Landscape Design is a design-build landscape company serving Chester County, Delaware County and the Main Line from West Chester (701 S Franklin St). We design, install, and care for complete landscapes — landscape design and 3D rendering, hardscape and patios, drainage and grading, and plantings — with every project grounded in a plan you approve before work begins.

PA HIC #PA035784 | ICPI Certified | HBA Member — Chester & Delaware Counties | BBB A+ | 20+ Years Chester County

JHL Landscape Design | PA HIC #PA035784 | ICPI Certified | Licensed & Insured 701 S Franklin St, West Chester, PA 19382 (610) 422-3474

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