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Felling a tree: permission and rules
Protected woodland, listed sites, dangerous trees, tenants, nesting season: when a prior declaration is required to fell a tree in France, and how to check it at the town hall.
Year-round garden maintenance in Lapalud and around
Regular visits so the grounds stay tidy without you having to think about it: mowing, trimming, weeding, clearing, removal.
Free quote
Visit and pricing with no obligation
30 km around Lapalud
Vaucluse, Drôme, Gard, Ardèche
Monday to Saturday
8am – 7pm
Green waste removed
The ground is left clean
Not sure? Describe it and Josué will take a look.
Two lines is enough. The visit and the written quote are free, with no obligation.
41 customers left a review. Every one gave five stars.
The rating comes from the company’s Google listing. You can read the reviews one by one, and leave your own after the work is done.
Google review summary
5,0
41 reviews
| 5 | 41 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 |
- What customers mention
- abattage 4
- haie 4
- prix 4
- sapin 2
Lilou Martin Visited in juillet 2026Très bon travail, entreprise, réactif, je recommande
Raiso Chauvet Visited in juillet 2026Très bonne entreprise sérieuse
Mandy Poulain Visited in juillet 2026Artisan poulain est intervenu chez moi pour l’abattage d’un sapin un peu complexe. Il a su travailler tout en sécurité, je suis très satisfait du résultat artisan très sympathique et ponctuel je le recommande sérieusement.
Mélissa Hangard Visited in mars 2026Ponctuel, moins de 10 jours entre le premier contact, le devis et le début d’intervention. Artisan sympathique et à l’écoute des envies et des besoins. Il a également su nous conseiller pour notre projet. Je recommande fortement.
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci beaucoup pour votre retour et votre recommandation ! Nous sommes ravis que notre réactivité et nos conseils vous aient satisfait. Ce fut un plaisir de vous accompagner dans votre projet.
Gouttières alu 84 Visited in mars 2026Nous avons fait intervenir Mr Poulain chez nous pour tailler notre haie et un abattage d’un gros arbre les travaux on étais réalisé dans les temps et en toute sécurité je recommande les yeux fermer ponctuel et professionnel
Mayrone Martin Visited in mars 2026J’ai fait confiance a Mr Poulain pour venir abattre un arbre chez moi j’ai était agréablement surpris du professionnalisme et du prix très correct rien n’a redire je recommande vivement.
Alain Richard Visited in mars 2026Monsieur Poulain est un homme sérieux, ponctuel, motivé et très appliqué (plutôt rare de nos jours !!!). Il se soucie du fait que le résultat final, corresponde bien à vos attentes.
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci beaucoup pour votre message et votre recommandation. Je suis ravi que le travail réalisé ait été à la hauteur de vos attentes. Je mets un point d’honneur à être à l’écoute de mes clients afin de leur apporter un résultat soigné et conforme à leurs besoins.
Martine Verron Visited in mars 2026Taille des haies de laurier, Olivier parfaite, comme demandé. Je conseille vivement cette entreprise. Avec mes remerciements
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci pour votre avis et votre confiance. Nous sommes heureux d’avoir pu vous accompagner dans votre projet et que notre réactivité vous ait satisfait. Au plaisir de vous revoir pour de futurs travaux.
David Andres Visited in février 2026Prestation effectuée dans les temps, Travail sérieux et soigné, personne a l écoute et très professionnelle, je recommande vivement 👍
Corinne Petit Visited in mars 2026J’ai fait intervenue mr poulain pour une taie de haie nous avons été ravie de son intervention. Je recommande sans hésitation
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci beaucoup pour votre retour et votre recommandation. Nous sommes ravis que la taille de votre haie vous ait donné satisfaction. Ce fut un plaisir d’intervenir chez vous.
What it involves
Garden maintenance is everything that fits no particular category but still has to be done: mowing, weeding the paths, trimming the shrubs, clearing leaves, tidying the edges, pulling out the shoots that keep coming back along the wall.
Two options, depending on what you need. A one-off visit, when the grounds have been left and need bringing back. Or regular upkeep — monthly, fortnightly or seasonal — where Josué comes at an agreed interval and does whatever the season calls for. The second works out cheaper across the year, because you are never catching up.
Josué travels up to 30 km from Lapalud. Check the towns covered around Lapalud — Vaucluse, Drôme, Gard and Ardèche.
What the job includes
- Written quote, free and with no obligation
- Green waste removed, unless the quote says otherwise
- Ground raked clean at the end of the job
- Mowing of grassed areas and edge finishing
- Trimming of shrubs and small beds
- Hand or mechanical weeding of paths, terraces and wall bases
- Leaves and plant debris collected
- Edges and surrounds cleaned at the end of each visit
- All green waste taken away
When to do it
All year, with the heavier period from March to October. A maintenance arrangement usually settles on a visit every two to four weeks in the growing season, and one or two visits over winter.
While we are there, this often comes up
- mowing from March to October — it is the item that comes round most often in a year-long arrangement.
- the annual hedge trim — it slots naturally into the autumn visit.
- clearing ground that has been left — before anything can be maintained, the soil sometimes has to be found again.
What your garden asks for, season by season, in the Rhône valley
The maintenance calendars you find online are national averages. Here the drought lasts two months longer, the mistral breaks whatever stands proud, and the lawn sleeps through July instead of growing.
- Late February – March
Coming out of winter
Laurels and evergreens cut, the olive pruned once the last frosts have passed, a first recovery mow, and paths weeded before anything sets seed — three times the work a month later.
- April
The month not to rush
A morning frost is still possible into mid-April. You do not cut sensitive subjects hard and you hold off planting: the Provençal spring is deceptive, and it takes back with one hand what it gave with the other.
- May – June
Peak growth
Mowing every fortnight, then the cutting height is raised BEFORE the heat, not during it. Taller grass shades its own soil and holds drought; it is the only free protection a lawn has here.
- July – August
The dry regime
The lawn goes dormant, visits space out, and watering may be restricted by order. The work shifts to edges, regrowth, and keeping the ground clear around the house.
- September – October
Recovery after the rains
A second growth peak, consistently underestimated: it is the right window for the annual hedge cut and for reseeding what summer burnt. A garden left until November starts three weeks late in spring.
- November – February
The winter visit
Leaves, structural pruning of deciduous trees, and above all checking stakes and ties before the heavy mistral. It is the visit people cut first to save money, and the one that costs most to make up.
A garden kept up through the year is handled in short visits. A garden reclaimed after three years needs a restoration job before it can be kept up at all — and the gap between the two often exceeds a factor of three.
Garden maintenance: the mistakes we see most
Three situations that come back job after job. None is beyond repair, but all cost more to fix than to avoid.
Waiting until the ground “needs it” before calling
A garden that has to be reclaimed costs two to three times what keeping it would have, for the same area. The reason is mechanical: brambles and regrowth move from brushcutter to chainsaw within one season of delay, and flattened grass takes two passes instead of one. A regular arrangement is not a comfort subscription — it is what stops the bill doubling.
Having the mowing done but not the removal
The heap of green waste at the bottom of the garden is the most common consequence of a vague quote. It draws rodents, composts badly because it is too dense, and ends up costing a separate collection. Removal — or chipping on site — has to be written on the quote in black and white. It is the first thing to check.
Watering a lawn cut too short in summer
In the Rhône valley, a lawn scalped in July loses the shade over its own soil: it heats, it evaporates, and it demands water a restriction may forbid you to give it. Raising the cutting height by two centimetres saves more water than any timer, and the lawn stays green longer.
What it costs
The size of the grounds, how often visits happen, how many areas need attention, and the starting condition. Grounds that are kept up cost less than grounds being brought back.
How it is priced
Per visit, or as an annual figure spread across the year. The annual arrangement almost always works out cheaper: you never have to catch up, so each visit is short.
What the market charges
Comparison sites put routine maintenance at a few tens of euros an hour, and publish annual figures in the hundreds for a regularly kept private garden. For the same area, the gap between kept ground and ground reclaimed after three years often exceeds a factor of three.
These figures are taken from national comparison sites. They are not PJ Espaces Verts’ rates: Josué prices after seeing the job, and his quote may fall outside these ranges either way. They are here so you are not calling in the dark.
What a quote is made of
- The area actually maintained
- Not the size of the plot: the part that genuinely needs work. Three thousand square metres of which two thousand are rough meadow is not priced on three thousand.
- How often
- Every two weeks in season, monthly, or four seasonal visits. It is the lever you have most control over.
- What is included
- Mowing alone, or mowing plus pruning, weeding, beds and leaves. The quote lists each item so you can see what you could drop.
- Where it starts from
- An initial catch-up is a separate job, priced separately. Once it is done, the regular round settles back to its normal price.
- The waste
- Taken away each visit, or chipped and left as mulch. The second costs less and feeds your beds.
Ongoing maintenance is priced on area, number of visits and the starting condition — a garden kept up across the year costs less than one being rescued. Josué comes to look, proposes a rhythm of visits, and puts it in writing. Free quote, no obligation.
The 50% tax credit: what to know
Small gardening jobs at a private home fall under France’s personal services scheme: half the cost comes back to the householder as a tax credit, up to an annual ceiling per household, and an immediate-advance option means paying only half the invoice at the time. The catch is that the work has to fall inside that category — and many websites claim it for work that does not.
This service does qualify: mowing, hedge trimming, brush clearing and routine garden upkeep are explicitly covered, including removal of the waste the job generates.
The tax credit requires a business registered under the personal services scheme. Ask Josué where that registration stands when he quotes: it changes what the work finally costs you, and he will tell you straight.
Garden maintenance: your questions
Is a one-off visit or a year-round arrangement better?
It depends where you start from. Ground that is already tidy keeps well on a regular round — you never have to catch up, so each visit is short. Ground left for two or three years needs bringing back first, which is a separate, longer job; after that the regular round takes over and costs far less.
How many visits does a year usually take?
For a typical garden here, every two to four weeks from March to October, plus one or two winter visits for pruning and leaf clearing. The rhythm is set by your ground, not by a standard package: a watered lawn and a dry Provençal plot do not need the same frequency.
What exactly does a maintenance round cover?
Whatever the quote lists, item by item: mowing and edging, pruning of shrubs and small beds, weeding of paths and wall bases, leaf clearing, tidying up and removal of all green waste. Anything outside that — a tree to prune, an overgrown hedge to bring back — is quoted separately, never slipped into the invoice.
My land has been left for years. Can it be brought back?
Almost always. We start with clearing, to find the ground again and see what is under it — a wall, a fence, sometimes good trees worth keeping. Only then do we decide what becomes lawn, bed or simply kept ground. Josué will tell you straight away if the job needs two visits.
Who takes the green waste away?
Josué does, every time. Clippings, prunings, leaves and weeding waste leave with him, unless you would rather keep the chippings for your beds — say so at the quote stage. Nothing is left in a heap at the bottom of the garden, and nothing is burnt: burning garden waste is not allowed.
Do I need to be there for every visit?
No. For the quote visit, yes — that is when you say what you want. After that, as long as access is possible, Josué comes and you find the work done. Many owners here have a second home and are only around a few weeks a year: that is exactly when a regular round earns its keep.
Do you look after vegetable plots or irrigation?
Vegetable plots, no — that stays yours, and it is better that way. As for automatic irrigation, Josué will flag a fault he notices during a visit, a blocked dripper or a leaking valve, but installing and repairing systems is not part of the service.
Where Josué travels
The journey, the ground and the regulations change from one town to the next. Six of them have a page of their own.
Other services
Lawn mowing
Mowing, edge finishing, clippings collected. One-off or all season.
Brush clearing
Overgrown ground, or a legal clearance obligation: back to a clean slate.
Tree pruning
Reducing, thinning or reshaping a tree safely, without damaging it.
Latest advice
What we write between jobs, and what often answers the question you have before you call.
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The visit, the on-site assessment and the written quote are free and commit you to nothing.