Hiring a gardener - what would you do?

OH is no longer able to do any gardening and unfortunately I am unable to do very much except light work so a decision has been made to find a gardener.

Do I need to ask for references etc if somebody does just 2 or 3 hours per week?
Am I just being over-cautious - as probably most people are very good.

As it happens, we have just had a leaflet through the door 'Dave's Gardening Services' - a local man it seems, so thinking of giving him a try. What questions do I need to ask?

As usual any advice appreciated.

​

 

I'd ask to talk to a couple of his customers, he shouldn't object if he's a good gardener

Sorry to hear you can't manage the garden anymore jjordie

 

Ask friends for recommendations.
Look in local newsagents' windows.

Ask them to identify shrubs in your garden and advise you on how they should be pruned and when. Act innocent and try to find out how much they actually know about plants! Some people get made redundant and just think that a bit of gardening work is an easy way to earn some money but they are not very knowledgeable. They might be fine for lawn-mowing and basic tasks, though.

Expect to pay in the region of £15 per hour.

No harm in asking for references. Someone who is proud of their work will instantly supply them. However, a cowboy would find a way to cover their tracks, no doubt.

You could ask them if they have public liability insurance - I'd be interested to hear what kind of answers you get!

Ask them to do a one-off job or session to start off - then if you are pleased with how they do it, and how quickly, book more sessions.

Professional firms will probably state a flat fee for job, or a fee for a monthly or weekly maintenance contract - work out how many hours it might take you to cover the same work to see if you are getting better value than hiring a small-time gardener at an hourly rate.

If they won't agree to come at a stated appointment time and stick to it I would give them a miss. People get fed up with gardeners who just drift along when it suits them.

 

As you know, I've had a gardener for around 6 years now. I picked up his card from a dressmaker's shop! I never got any references as I took to him the first time he came.

He comes every other week and charges £20 for 2 hours each visit. He's actually very good though I must have a word as I've noticed that at the end of the year, some plants are disappearing when they're dormant! I had a nice corner of geum which had been there for about 5 or 6 years and I just noticed they are no more, they are ex-geums! But maybe they had died anyway. Who knows?

He doesn't have any insurance that I know of and to be h0nest, I have never given it a thought. He often bring his own gear though I have a shed full! Just lately he's picked up two new clients from my immediate neighbours as well!

 

The lady who lives next door to me has hired and fired a string of gardeners. The previous chap used to turn up every once in a while and simply spray everything, so nothing ever grew in her garden.

The new one is perhaps even worse. He turns up and trims about half of her side of the hedge that divides my front garden from hers, stopping far enough on her side so that I can't actually reach from my side to finish the job for her. I'm going to have to have a word with teh neighbour because my fence is bust yet again, because of her gardener stacking heavy stuff against it all the time. Not the neighbour's fault, but she is liable because of her gardener. And while out in MY garden, I saw some of my plants suddenly vanish under the fence. Her gardener was on her side of the fence 'weeding', and was just randomly ripping out anything green that he could see, which unfortunately included some little flowers that have been in both my garden and the neighbour's since before I bought this place.

So yes, in short, check up on people before hiring them. Don't feel bad about it. I'm not a gardener (professionally at least) but business is business, and I know if I was asking someone to pay me some money for doing some of what I claim to be good at, I would have no problem at all if a prospective customer/employer wanted to check references and recommendations.

 

Know this may sound a bit off the wall, but have a word with your local plant seller.
We have a local market gardener that sells via our market, he knows from his trading who the real gardeners are and I have often heard him recommend someone locally to folk who are in need of help.

 

Thanks everybody. Your gardener sounds just what I am looking for Shiney,yours too Jo, and very sensible way of doing it but having a job to find just one gardener so don't think I have much chance of interviewing 3! Neighbours not very helpful because none of them seem to have or know of any gardeners.

So perhaps I will ask somebody to do a one-off job and if satisfactory maybe ask them if they will do more work. Is that sensible or not?


.

 

Ooo-er Clueless your neighbour's gardener sounds just the one I dont want to see.
and Adendoll sounds like a good idea but going out anywhere is not possible for us now
so back to the small ads in the free newspaper........

 

If at all possible, jjordie, go by word-of-mouth. A good gardener will have a waiting list but they can usually make room for someone likeable I'd be wary of anyone advertising...if they're any good, they shouldn't need to! Do you have a local gardening club? It might be worth contacting someone for a recommendation....

 

I'm very sorry to hear that you cant do your own garden these days @jjordie , I suspect we will all reach that stage at some point in the future.

Cant really help regarding the question, but hope you find someone good.

 

Hi Pete - yes, afraid the time has come to admit we need help in the garden. I'm almost 81 and looking after Jack 24/7 so it doesn't leave a lot of time for gardening much as I would like to do some of it.

I agree with your quote "Life's too short to worry about health and safety" so I'll just
have to make a decision and give somebody a try.

.​

 

If you have any nurses coming in to help with your hubby, they may know of some one or put the word out for you.
The heart failure team that look after dad are mine of local information and if you ask them something, that they cannot answer then and there often they will come back with an answer the next time we see them! They may have someone on their round who employs a gardener they're happy with. Good luck!

 

I've had an idea. It largely depends on how you feel about your neighbourhood, but it could work if its a friendly sort of area.

Why not have a wander about, find a neighbour's garden that you really like, and then ask them who looks after it. If they look after it themselves, ask them if they fancy a bit of extra pocket money to come and do yours for a few hours a week. If they get someone in, ask them who.