Topic: Gardening service?

[grannyjanny]

Just had a nice young man ring the doorbell to ask if we would like him to prune our flowering cherry tree as he is in the area.

I told him no thank you as it needs pruning after it's flowered so he said he could come back.

The worry is this a legit business as he had a sweatshirt with the name of the company on it ::) :o.

[1066]

reminds me of when we wanted our Magnolia pruned. Asked 3 lost of people round, 2 turned up, 1st lot (in company sweatshirts) asked how much we wanted off, either a 1/3rd, 1/4 or more. 2nd guy (1 man band and no company sweatchirts) took a look and said he'd come back in Winter to give it a prune, he said it needed thining on top and a gentle re-shaping. Guess who got the job  ;D

[goodlife]

Unfortunately they can be in business and have no idea what they are doing ::)...just like hairdresses etc.
It is left to clients to find out if they have any knowlege or training for the job >:
Good thing is that you know it is not right time of the year for that job ;D

[rugbypost]

For a couple of years now neighbours of ours have been paying a group of boyy to cut there privit hedge, I dont se her or her husband much as i am in work. But my wife said she pays them and this is the truth £150 its about 20ft long and they do it twice a year. But this year with the help of 2 teenage lads who live next door will do it Iwill cut with the machine and they will bag it ready for the council to pick up £15 pound each for the lads and a nice cup of coffee for me and the dog has a free biscuit every day

[Garden Manager]

Its these kind of cowboys that give us proper jobbing gardeners a bad name. I always do a proper job and dont cut corners or do rush job. Might take longer and cost the owner more but in the end they get a good job and are more likely to have me back.

There are those people out there who think gardening is a good way to make a fast buck with virtualy no gardening skills at all. People (customers) then think all gardeners are like this and treat us accordingly. tell someone you are a gardener and they immediately look down their nose at you as if you are nothing. It also becomes more difficult to charge what a job is worth and you could end up working for pittance.

I have a neighbour who occasionaly hires a middle aged chap to do gardening work for him.  He clearly does not know what he is doing. He made a right mess of the hege on our mutual boundary, much to my annoyance, then on another occasion paid no heed to health and safety when using a ladder to cut another bit of hedge in the garden and nearly fell off with the trimmer on top of him!  :o :o Why my neighbour cant ask me to do it i do not know, perhaps he thinks i am too expensive (dont know what he pays his 'man'). Thats not an issue, being neighbours i could cut a good deal and do the work properly and safely. ::) ::) ::)

rant over