Getting help with home and garden maintenance

Gardens and homes are the pride and joy for many older Australians, but as you get older taking care of your garden and home can get harder to maintain.

Last updated: April 17th 2024

Home Care

Getting someone to do the harder house and garden work means you can focus and enjoy the easier chores. [Source: Shutterstock]

Key points:

Many local options are available to help with home and garden maintenance
Occasional help from a handyman can keep you safe at home
You don’t have to hand over all the gardening jobs if you still want to stay involved

While spending time in your garden may be a favourite pastime, outsourcing the bigger and more difficult jobs to someone else can ensure that you can still enjoy and work in your garden without putting yourself in harm’s way.

Whether you have prized roses to take care of or you struggle getting in and out of your house, getting extra assistance with home and garden maintenance can make a world of difference.

Extra help can also ensure you feel safe and independent in your home, knowing that the important jobs, that can be dangerous, are done for you, like replacing a light bulb or fixing hazardous floorboards or tiles.

Engaging an expert in home and garden maintenance means that hard work such as weeding, mowing the lawn or window cleaning is completed by someone else, allowing you to spend your time on activities you’d rather enjoy. Getting maintenance help can also provide a safer and more efficient way to get the chores done around your home.

Not only that, reducing the difficult tasks from your to-do list can help you stay living in your home, comfortably and independently, for longer while still enjoying your ‘pride of place’.

Experts at hand

In every local community, gardening or home maintenance specialists are available to help with things around the home.

They can help with a range of things, from chores as simple as clearing our gutters or mowing the lawn, to more strenuous work, like landscaping your garden to be safer or installing ramps to enter your home, if required.

Home and garden maintenance services can make your home not only look its best, so it can continue to be your pride and joy, but getting the extra help means your home will be safer for you to live in.

You can engage a professional service provider to help you with home and garden maintenance, or there may be local volunteers in your community who are happy to help with these odd jobs.

Contact your local council to see what businesses may be able to assist or if there are any volunteers who are willing to offer you these services.

If you receive an approved Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) or Home Care Package (HCP), you may be able to use funding in your support plan to go towards home and garden maintenance.

Services considered home maintenance include:

cleaning gutters;
home modification installations, like handrails in the bathroom and toilet;
permanent or temporary ramps outside or inside the home;
step modifications;
installation and maintenance of smoke alarms;
pest control;
handyman work, such as fixing or replacing tap washers, repairing doors and cupboards, minor general plumbing and electrical repairs.

Services considered gardening maintenance include:

weeding and pruning;
watering and fertilising the garden;
mowing the lawn or cutting back the hedge;
pressure washing outdoor areas;
window washing;
fixing fences and gates.

Getting extra assistance around the home doesn’t mean you can’t continue to enjoy doing activities that you love, like gardening. For example, you can choose for your provider to do basic garden maintenance and lawn mowing, but leave the pruning of roses to you.

The service provider you decide to use should keep your house and garden in good condition, just how you like it.

If you are still feeling unsure about having extra assistance around the home, you can ask a provider about their insurance cover and whether they do any police checks on their employees.

Sometimes additional help is all you need to continue staying independent at home and enjoying other activities that you now have time for as an older Australian.

You can find providers delivering home and garden maintenance services in your State or Territory using the directory on the Aged Care Guide.

What home and garden maintenance would you like assistance with around the home? Tell us in the comments below.