Help!! Gardener wanted to tame garden of run-down house

any chance of any pics so we know what we are looking at:thumb:

 

Is that a cross between a 'wad' and a 'wage' ? :D

 

Hi,
i could help unless you have already found somebody,
please feel free to email me via my profile.
thanks,
jackie

 

My rates are reasonable shame you are not on my doorstep.

 

I have a good friend who has just moved to W Sussex and is a pro gardener but does not charge a fortune, works darn hard and is reliable !!!
I will send her a link to this thread and she can contact you, she used to garden in Devon and had some very happy customers who where sad to see her leave.

 

Watch out RM people out to profit on your dilemma. And I dont mean genuine gardeners corner peeps. Do your reseach thats all I'm saying. 02

 

Hi

I am new here, but flowerofshona has already mentioned me!. Unfortunately Findon is too far for me to go but good luck in finding someone.

BTW I do 'real gardening', not just cutting down, chopping back and mowing (although I do some of that). I like to have 'whole' gardens to look after and do weeding (on me hands and knees sometimes) planting, watering etc etc. I charge a lot less than £30 an hour

I find a lot of 'gardeners' tend to be men in white vans with big tools that rip off older people. Not that anyone here would be like that I am sure.

What bugs me tho' is that people will pay through the nose for other 'trades' like decorators for instance, but when it comes to someone to actually help look after their gardener they want a 'hobby' gardener or a semi retired person. Its a hard labourt intensive job and people should realise this and pay accordingly.

 

I too go down on my knees to weed and go behind plants etc and its been know I go that extra mile to my Ladies gardens I tend to and of course got to be trust .

There is a Findon up North still far me.

 

I have a white van :wink: Like scot kat i do proper gardening as well as clearence jobs. It is good to get recognition for your work and i get real satisfaction watching the gardens i look after establish.:thumb:

 

"What bugs me tho' is that people will pay through the nose for other 'trades' like decorators for instance"

Thats why my business is changing focus, these days I seem to do ever increasingf amounts of exterior decorating, property maintance and pestcontrol..... I can almost name my price although I work with set prices and to a set (non quoted to the customer) day rate.

Try and charge a decent day rate ie £150 for 8 hours for garden maintance and it has limited takers.


My garden maintance running costs are farr higher in fuel machienary etc. Sadly horticulture is a very undervalued profeshion.

Thankfully I have the skills and kit to combine three jobs and make a good living whilst still enjoying myself and most importantly feeling valued.

Ps, uesd to have a white van (now blue). Big tools.... Yup!! .... Rip of prices... Some might agree but its up to the customer if they employ me or not, regardless my rates are exactly the same for the elderly pensioner or the milionaire city banker.

 

Ive got a white van to an id just like to say have you ever tried to find a good secondhand van that aint white i looked for 4 months :dh: oh and ive never ripped of anyone in me life allthough my prices for nasty jobs such as clearing brambles are a lot higher than mowing :thumb:

 

You should have bought direct from a lease company m8..... pleanty of 2-3 year old non white vans and scope to haggle as it saves them flogging them on and valeting etc.

Also they dont supervise you so you can do as i do and swap the fuses and claim the elec windows and air con dont work... ££ saving!!

 

Yeah but what sort of milage ? only ex lease ones i saw were going to auction round here to

 

Mine had 30,000 mile MK6 transit 85ps elec pack eg air con, em,elw etc.

Needed a valet and new ply lining but otherwise ok.

 

Not bad that only problem is i hate fords :( it going rusty yet :thmb::lollol: