Cost of garden maintenance

Hello, I live in a block of flats that have a communal garden. We have an elderly couple come to do general maintenance in the building and on the grounds, hoover and mop the interior, mow the lawn and occasionally cut back shrubs in the garden. They do this once every two weeks.

However May last year I was getting rather irritated as I felt the garden was looking very shabby so I decided to take some gardening on myself. I attended the beds and tidied up the borders. I have added some shrubs and plants, most of which are considered very low maintenance.

The issue I have is that now that now that I've been attending the garden I have noticed how many tree saplings are around the garden. I'm really angry the maintenance people hack back my geraniums that are going into flower but don't pull or dig up a chestnut tree growing a foot away!

They are not qualified gardeners in any stretch of the imagination. In fact I'm convinced they are causing more damage than good. Why do people think that anyone could do gardening???
We have asked these people to do things but they say they are too busy. We pay them £50 for the two hours they do - hoovering, mopping and lawn mowing, (although they never do the edges so it looks terrible, and they cut the lawn too short so is now full of weeds).

I'm going to suggest to the management company that we bring in some people, qualified gardeners to blitz the place of tree saplings. And possibly do more like scarifying the lawn in the autumn and cut back ivy so it doesn't strangle newly growing hedges.

I have stated to the management company these people are useless but appear to not be bothered as they have helped us for 20 years on odd jobs.

What do people expect to pay for a one off or very occasional work to garden?

 

It's generally the way of things that the management company will say "you do both or nothing". A friend of mine is tied into just such a deal despite telling them that he knew nothing about gardening.

Exactly!
The chap who does the car park and rental cottages over the road has two tools - a petrol mower and a petrol strimmer. He doesn't even have a broom or shovel as he finds his foot works perfectly well in that respect!!!

 

You have both made me laugh out loud with your remarks.

Yes this couple have a broom, sheers and a lawn mower, which they evidently set to its shortest setting, at all times. They sheer everything, even the roses!!! Do they ever clean them with bleach, doubt it.

In March I set out to redo a bed of about 1.5 x 3 meters, I spent two days digging it clear of rubble, broken bottles, weeds and an overly invasive carex grass. And replaced with thymes, oregano and rosemary. It's a dry south west facing bed.
I stored this rubble behind the garages for now as I may need it for drainage when digging holes for the hedges to be planted later in the year, as this would be in clay banks. But the lady said she wants to make a rockery in the centre of the lawn with it. FFS

Last summer I spent two hours digging a hole for a David Austin Rose, the man doing the maintenance kept stopping to watch me and kept tutting, possibly trying to make me uncomfortable.

What is lovely is that people who pass comment a lot, asking if I'm their professional landscape gardener, and how it's really improved. Still tones to learn, but at least I'm trying. Not like that couple who are so pig stubborn.

Ask them to do anything like trim the edges of the lawn, and they reply with I'm too busy. But thee quite happily build a rubble rock garden.