Certificated gardeners/landscapers ?

It's so easy and popular these days to call yourself a professional gardener.
And some of the prices they charge for their 'expertise' got me wondering.

From a trading standards/industry excellence point of view, shouldn't there be a greater clarification for consumers about what a person is qualified to charge services for ?

A friend of mine has been through the rigorous training it takes to be a professional plants/landscaping person. The RHS certainly has very high standards !!!

Is there/should there be an industry list akin to the Association of Masterbuilders for those that have chosen long term skills and knowledge over a short term money spinner ?

 

Pieces of paper don't prove anything, only you can tell if anyone can do the job. If you are satisfied, fine. If not, then get someone else.

For some years, I was a member of the National Federation of Master Painters. Later I joined the Guild of Master Craftsmen but they were only interested in gathering funds, so I left. In my trade I have had "qualified" (apprenticed) decorators who were unsuitable, I have also had a non-qualified decorator who was very good at the job and went on to be a master decorator with a very good reputation.

 

Bananaman, it's a difficut one. I've got three medals from Chelsea for gardens I've designed and built which have been well received by the judges and the public, but have no formal training as a gardener. Would you trust me to design for you?!:thumb:

Chris

 

Clearly the talented will shine through, BUT so many flyers and adverts for would be professional gardeners come through the door and get posted on village notice boards. For all I can see they just got some tools and decided they knew how to 'cut stuff'.

 

You can always ask to see some work they have done and talk to previous customers - this will tell you much more than any certificate.
Also you need to be very clear about what you want doing.

 

As with anything you have to make your own judgement, just seen too many muppets with mowers and chumps with chainsaws recently.

I think a trade recognition would be good.

 

There is trade recognition, BALI British Association of Landscape Industries. Have a look here at their website. There is also IOG, Institute of Groundsmanship, website and there is the another one which I can not remember at the moment.

I haven't been a member of any of these organisations, because I have found that being a reliable and knowledgeable gardener, who charged a reasonable rate work was easy(ish) to obtain. It does frustrate me that so called 'professionals' carry out inappropreate operations to maintain an open green space. I could go on for a while describing events that I have come across, but I fear I'd be here for a while!

Hope this Helps!

My qualification?? I've got a BSc (hons) in Horticulture, and several years experience gardening!

 

Interview them first. Drop a few blatently false but plausible sounding statements in and see if they pick up on them.

For example, you could say "I'd like to grow Blueberries but I can't because I haven't got the dry, chalky soil that they need". If they then come back and say, "that's true, but you could grow something else instead", then send them packing. If they look puzzled for a moment and then say "but Blueberries don't like dry chalky soil", then keep talking.

The trouble is, I reckon in many cases the prospective client will know nothing about gardening. In that situation all a cowboy has to do is learn a handful of botanical names and he's an instant expert.

 

I would rather prefer you tried to trip them up if that is the way you want to identify if they can garden, by asking what would you do with a certain area in the garden, or a certain problem shrub. The subject is so vast, that not everyone will know certain specifics, but they will have the vision of how things could look with some careful pruning/training/planting to get the desired effects.

In my experience, many 'gardeners' disappeared once they realised how much work is involved in keeping a garden looking picture perfect. I would also try and get the customer to plan ahead, because not everything can be done at once, e.g pruning shrubs to get the best show of flowers that year or the following year.

I would also say, that there is an art to cutting grass, and any fool can run over a garden with a mower, and call themselves a gardener. To cut grass well, there is a skill to it. You only have to look at the professional football pitches to see that it ain't just about pushing a mower around, but hours upon hours of total dedication to getting the perfect playing surface.

It is one of my pet hates, 'oh I must be a professional gardener because I have a mower and a few tools'

 

...and mine, "Jack of all trades, master of none" ...tree experts are the worst round here.

 

Well my college tutor is always banging on about how where not "Gardeners" but Horticulturists! xD which is a protected title...

 

your tutor is right would someone on a tight budget employ a horticultorist to mow the lawn and trim hedges. you dont need to be an expert to appreciate a nice garden and to look after it . if you have any doubt who to employ use someone reccomended.
rpdiy

 

There are 2 types of " professional gardener ", the jobbing gardener and the, for want of a better word, horticulturist. You can have a good jobbing gardener or a poor horticulturist, so how do you legislate? Do you deny the good jobbing gardener because he has no industry qualifications?

 

If you just want someone to cut the grass and the hedges and a general tidy up does it really matter how well trained the person is.
As long as they are not taking the p____.

The local "tree surgeons" are a bit of a pest I must admit, they come round and knock the door hoping to bludgeon some tree or other in your front garden.

Just never use them, only use people who you contact first.
Preferably on recommendation.

There are Cowboys in all jobs, even the ones with the most regulation.
Its a case of "buyer beware".