My wife has always done the gardening, as I have little interest in it. However, she is no longer really keen to do the whole work, so we are looking to hire a gardener. It's going to be mowing the lawn, weeding the flower beds, trimming back the shrubs, stuff like that.
Any hints and tips on how to get a good gardener that doesn't need a fully qualified horticulturist, but I also don't want some teenager who doesn't know anything more than pushing a lawnmower.
Never had to hire house staff before, so really not sure what the process is.
Look/ask on local Facebook group (cue "I don't do Facebook").
In my limited experience I needed to commit to many more hours per week/month than I actually wanted to get anyone to take any interest.
I had to get a gardener to help my mum. I spotted a gardeners van (signs painted on the side) parked nearby so made a note and went back to ask the houseowner how good they were. All sounded good so I went with them.
I spotted a gardeners van (signs painted on the side) parked nearby
That was what I was hoping to do but no gardeners vans parked anywhere I have look.
Look/ask on local Facebook group
I didn't know FB had local groups, how do I find them? I guess I then just go off their recommendations?
Never had to hire house staff before, so really not sure what the process is
Of course not, that's what ones head butler is for surely?
A lot of “gardeners” that advertise make a good job of cutting grass and hedges but are not trained sufficiently to carry out different pruning techniques on shrubs, climbers etc so the result can be neat but devoid of flowers. Perhaps advertise locally and you might find someone recently retired who needs some extra money but will also take care and be able to follow your instructions?
so the result can be neat but devoid of flower
There is a difference between a gardener and a person with some tools and a van. My brother has a "gardener" who cuts every plant in the garden to the same rounded dumpling shape regardless of how the plant actually wants to grow. Obvs if Mrs WCA is still willing to give them clear instructions then that shouldn't matter - or maybe Mrs WCA wants that sort of garden anyway so it might work out perfectly.
Might try finding a retired proper gardener. Good suggestion. Now how?
Yes - local facebook group and get a good recommendation.
The van idea sounds great. Maybe ask neighbours if they know anyone.
cuts every plant in the garden to the same rounded dumpling shape
Yup, that sounds like my version of gardening and shrub maintenance to be honest 😀. Lollipop trees is the term, I think
There's a "Solent green" van around the M27/M3 junction - it was, when I used to drive to work that way. He/she at least deserves consideration, surely
I am gardener, most of my work comes from recommendations from current clients or people just spotting me working and asking. I would ask on Facebook local groups, ask neighbours and also ask any tree surgeons sounds daft but they are always being asked if they know a gardener I have had a lot of worked passed on to me this way.
Never had to hire house staff before, so really not sure what the process is
Of course not, that's what ones head butler is for surely?
Ones butler attends to the running of the male household serving staff.
Ones housekeeper would attend to the inner working of the running the house, maids and such. With the exception of the kitchen which is the Cooks realm.
The main point yo the above is that would be appointing the gardener.
One would be asking the head gardener or possibly if its the country pile you land agent to act to appoint a head gardener.
The above would have been inherited and replaced overtime with those who rise through the ranks so if you are in a position of appointing one, you've rather let the household slide.
Never had to hire house staff before, so really not sure what the process is
Of course not, that's what ones head butler is for surely?
Ones butler attends to the running of the male household serving staff.
Ones housekeeper would attend to the inner working of the running the house, maids and such. With the exception of the kitchen which is the Cooks realm.
The main point yo the above is that would not be appointing the gardener.
One would be asking the head gardener or possibly if its the country pile you land agent to act to appoint a head gardener.
The above would have been inherited and replaced overtime with those who rise through the ranks so if you are in a position of appointing one, you've rather let the household slide.
Never had to hire house staff before, so really not sure what the process is
Of course not, that's what ones head butler is for surely?
Ones butler attends to the running of the male household serving staff.
Ones housekeeper would attend to the inner working of the running the house, maids and such. With the exception of the kitchen which is the Cooks realm.
The main point yo the above is that would not be appointing the gardener.
One would be asking the head gardener or possibly if its the country pile you land agent to act to appoint a head gardener.
The above would have been inherited and replaced overtime with those who rise through the ranks so if you are in a position of appointing one, you've rather let the household slide.
Alright, alright, we got the point, Lord Crawley!
Ffs this forum.
Spotting a van is good, but do some extra checking...there is a group of caravans that keep appearing nearby and they have some fantastic looking vans and pick-ups with some very professional signage - even having 0800 phone number on the sides.
Anyway, they seem to do a lot of gardening but then dump it all next to their site. They get moved on after 5 weeks and the landowner is left with a clear up bill.
Going by the amount of garden waste they seem to be very busy, I've no idea of they are any good, but they certainly aren't getting rid of the waste properly.
Recommendations from friends, local cafes or snack stops might have business cards for suggestions on who to contact.
You'll probably find someone that's happy to do the basics easily. With shrubs, are you more talking about the big job of trimming hedges, rather than the more 'tricky' side of trimming the smaller slower growing stuff ? Facebook local pages is a good start.
I do all the heavy lifting at home, mowing, hedge trimming then tackling and keeping the trees/shrubs behind our property in some order - these actually take more work, but if I didn't our garden would be invaded, especially be tree cover - I keep these down to manageable heights. There is 'supposed' to be a football field behind us - the council has let it go, so it's more of a wild field now, and a neighbour runs his mower over a 'walking' path around the edge, once every so often. I couldn't get a gardener to do this as it's not my land.
If you find someone, once every couple of weeks for a quick trim should be enough, then two to four longer sessions each year to tackle the shrubs. This then leaves the 'fettling' to your wife so she's not doing the heavy stuff.
A quick search on FB for Gardeners shows me people who can patio, build fences and lay artificial turf. I guess I need to improve my searches.
@joshvegas - When I was a kid (abroad) the staff came with the house and the land agent was responsible for the hiring and firing. Haven't had servents for 40 years and never ion the UK.
A quick search on FB for Gardeners shows me people who can patio, build fences and lay artificial turf. I guess I need to improve my searches.
@joshvegas - When I was a kid (abroad) the staff came with the house and the land agent was responsible for the hiring and firing. Haven't had servents for 40 years and never ion the UK.
Exactly. There is an order to these things and it must be maintained.
I didn't know FB had local groups, how do I find them? I guess I then just go off their recommendations?
Given you aren't finding anything, I'm not sure you have cracked the 'join/search in your local group" bit. Search from groups containing your town/village/area name. Don't worry if it was "reporting" in the title - lots of them were originally set up for curtain twitching / neighbourhood watch type stuff. Nowadays they are well, you'll see...
Searching for gardeners should give you contact details from previous enquires, but if not post your own enquiry.
I'm quite lucky that I can't entirely relate to this request.
I'm friends with, or know reasonably well, off the top of my head...
Gardeners
Landscape gardeners
Builders
Joiners
Plumbers
Joiners
Kitchen fitters
Decorators
Electricians
Solar installers
Mechanics
Tyre fitters
Sign makers
Bike shop owners
Car dealers
Estate agents
But, I did need someone specific to a certain job recently and asked Facebook and at the pub with a decent response - ended up with someone I already knew 😂
Local gardening centre
Alright, alright, we got the point, Lord Crawley!
Our gardener came by personal recommendation. And we are lucky to have him. He’s on first name terms with the King - who he also gardens for. As it happens, where he lives (in a castle), houses don’t come with gardens, so he does it for love as well as money. Out garden is lovely (grass excepted), but woe betide trying to get a dodgy planting scheme past him 😂
Double post
Given you aren't finding anything, I'm not sure you have cracked the 'join/search in your local group" bit. Search from groups containing your town/village/area name. Don't worry if it was "reporting" in the title - lots of them were originally set up for curtain twitching / neighbourhood watch type stuff. Nowadays they are well, you'll see...
When you do find them you're going to very quickly find out what your neighbours have been saying about you 🙂 Turns out they have been bored enough to watch.
Cuban heels?
