How to Write a Garden Responsibility Record the Tenant Can Follow

The tenant has already asked who mows. The assured shorthold tenancy (AST) is silent, or it only says keep the garden tidy. There is no list of front, rear, side or shared, and no dated outdoor photo. Write a one-page you/us split this Saturday, name each outdoor area, photograph a short baseline, and give the tenant that page with the welcome papers.

Saturday, one let in Ipswich. The tenant WhatsApps “who mows?”. Flora opens the AST: nothing about the garden, or one line that says “keep tidy”. Front lawn, a side passage with bins, a rear hedge already leaning at the pavement, and no photo from keys-out. She types “you, obviously”. The risk is July: the grass is long and there is still no written split.

There is no Garden Act. Landlords Portal (16 August 2026): almost no statute makes garden upkeep anyone’s legal duty, and section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 does not itself name lawns. NRLA (8 May 2025): garden issues still make 12–15% of end-of-tenancy disagreements that need resolution, with around 4,500 formal decisions a year including a garden issue.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

What if the AST is silent, or only says keep tidy?

If the agreement never mentions the garden, write the record this sitting. The problem is implied return-as-found plus seasonal growth is not a split the tenant can follow on Saturday. Copy the actual garden line, including the word nothing, onto the page. Save the who-mows message as the prompt, not as the split.

Do open the AST and write what it actually says. mydeposits: some agreements do not mention the garden at all, and without a written maintenance expectation a later claim can struggle. Do not wait for a new tenancy. Typical mistake: treating “keep the garden tidy” as enough. NRLA drawing on TDS (3 June 2024): vague “well maintained” wording is not sufficient.

If you later vary the signed agreement because the tenant asked, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 £50 cap is a different payment. It is not a reason to skip today’s one-pager. Write the page anyway and clip it next to the AST.

Who does the mowing, weeding and bins — and who does trees?

Write the split in tenant language. Routine, unless a gardener is already in the rent: mow in the growing season, weed beds and paths, prune low shrubs from the ground, and water in a dry spell. Put the bins out, keep litter off, and report a leaning fence or unsafe tree. Structural and specialist stay with you.

Landlord side: trees, climbers, large hedges, fences, walls, decks, and contractor jobs. Shelter England (6 May 2024): no duty to supply tools; no duty to improve. Do not send the tenant up a tree. CIA Landlords (17 March 2025): tree safety stays with you. A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) is written consent before cutting a protected tree.

If a gardener is already in the rent, write that instead of a tenant mow. Do not add a separate gardener fee — NRLA treats it as a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. For example, a 3 m hedge is not silently “keep tidy”. A hedge more than 2 metres is the neighbour complaint test on GOV.UK, not a tenancy statute. Just Landlords (updated 13 July 2026): no legal duty to provide a mower.

Which outdoor areas should you name on the page?

Name the front garden, rear garden, side passage, and any shared or communal patch. Say who mows which lawn and who puts which bin where. A side passage with two bins needs that line, or Saturday’s argument simply moves two metres. Shared space is not exclusive use.

Do list the areas in tenant language. NRLA wants borders, lawn and paved parts, front and rear, named. In practice, a shared garden usually sits with the landlord or agent unless exclusive use is written. Do not leave “the garden” as one unnamed blob. If this let is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) — a shared house with more than one household — keep any garden belonging to the HMO safe and tidy under HMO management regulation 7. Name the areas anyway; that duty still sits with you.

How do you photograph a short outdoor baseline?

Take one wide, dated photo per named area — front, rear, side, shared. Label the page. Use the same vantage later. This is a short addendum next to the check-in, not a second room walk. If they already moved in, title it “as at [today’s date]”.

Do shoot the named patches the same day you write the split. NRLA: photos referenced to front, rear and side, comparable angles later; only about 80% of landlords even look outside on a visit. mydeposits has a garden example with end photos and an invoice — and still no award, because there was no start record.

Note the season — “March, lawn short, rear hedge below the fence”. Do not grade every plant. The indoor check-in inventory is a different sheet.

When to give the tenant the written split?

Print plus PDF. Put the page in the welcome papers so they can follow the split without another Saturday argument. Ask them to initial the you/us lines. If keys already went out, email it today and ask them to reply “agreed”. File that thread with the page.

Do hand them the same sheet they will be judged against. mydeposits and Total Landlord (27 May 2025): highlight the garden clause and put tips in a welcome pack. Slide this sheet into the tenant welcome pack.

Clip garden-responsibility-YYYY-MM-DD.pdf next to the current agreement in the tenancy agreement folder. One line: no planting, shed, or hard landscaping without written consent — see written alteration consent. In practice, both of you should open the same dated PDF.

What to look at on the next visit if it is growing away?

On the next periodic visit, look at the named outdoor areas. If the hedge is heading over the pavement or the lawn is lost, date a note on the same record and book the landlord cut for trees and large hedges. Give 24 hours’ written notice.

Do glance outside — NRLA’s 80% figure is the gap. Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 section 11 gives 24 hours’ written notice. Add the named patches to the periodic inspection checklist. If the rear hedge leans over the pavement, the tenant reports and you book the cut. Highways Act 1980 section 154 can notice owner or occupier within 14 days. Ipswich / Suffolk uses 2.6 m over the footway.

Allow seasonal growth. NRLA’s example: autumn start, summer end, and 70% of a £290 quote, not 100%. Spring hedge cuts: do not destroy an in-use nest (roughly March–August). Success bar: written split, named areas, short outdoor baseline, page with the tenant, PDF next to the AST. Verify that checklist, then stop. An IziRento workspace can hold that record on this let.