Employing a Gardener

It’s been a busy few weeks here. Mainly because of my in-laws needing a bit of care. My mother in law was doing a spot of weeding in her front driveway when her husband accidentally ran over her toes as he reversed the car. This was painful enough but the shock of having her pinkies squashed caused her to turn around sharply to get out of the way, which in turn broke her leg. 

It gets worse. With her leg in plaster up to her thigh she needs to be moved around in a wheelchair. The chair was in the hallway and my father in law (like he did every evening for 50 years) made his way to bed by walking up the usually uncluttered hall. He fell over the chair resulting in a dislocated and broken shoulder. 

The main reason I mention this is that they are both avid gardeners and love to be active and as both are in their mid to late 80’s it’s certainly keeping them sprightly. They will both be laid up for 3 months at least which is right through the main growing season. To help them get through this I have sown a few veggies, but for a more reliable maintenance service we have brought in a gardener who was recommended by a neighbour and has worked for my in-laws on and off for years.

Reliability

There is a lot of grass to keep on top of and because I couldn’t offer any sort of reliability cutting it once a week we thought it would be a good idea to have him around regularly so nothing gets too out of hand. I think reliability is important when finding someone to tend the garden- weather permitting of course. There comes a time when most of us need gardening services for one reason or another, but why employ a gardener and how do we find them?

Why employ a professional gardener?

If your garden has got out of hand or like my in-laws you just can’t get out and keep on top of things then it’s probably time to get in the professionals. A professional gardener is someone who not only makes their living from supplying gardening services but is also fully insured, experienced, up to date with laws, has good tools and is aware of safety procedures especially if they have people working for them – and has an attention to detail and tidy.

Specialists

As with any profession gardening is skilled work and you might need to employ a specialist in one aspect of the garden like a tree care expert, it’s not very often you can find someone who can tackle everything in the garden.

Finding someone who works from their car with cheap tools and no means of removing rubbish isn’t a wise move as it might cost more to clean up after them than hiring a fully insured professional. It will be less stressful in the long run.

Finding a Gardener?

When I first started gardening I put a hand drawn advert into a local shop window. Because the poster was well made I got a good response from it. There are loads of other places to find tradespeople; here are just a few suggestions

• Personal recommendation from family, friends or local business owners
• Observing a gardener working in your local area and contacting them
• Keeping an attractive flyer that was posted through your door
• Looking through the Golden pages
• Ask local businesses for recommendations
• Perusing adverts in local papers, directories and parish magazines
• Going online and typing in local keywords

Gardening is a messy business and so people working in this profession can be dirty especially at the end of a long rainy day. Despite this you can usually get a valid impression of the way they run their business just by looking and talking to them. Appropriate work clothes can portray a good image.

Talking to prospective gardeners is a reliable way of helping you come to a decision on whether to hire them or not. Things we would be looking for are friendliness, politeness, confidence, willingness to converse and interest in their chosen profession. Keeping things local helps the local economy, is good for the environment and keeps costs down.

How much will it cost?

According to whatprice.co.uk gardeners will charge anywhere from €15 to €35 an hour depending on their level of qualification, and what the job involves. However larger gardens, more demanding tasks and specialist skilled work could cost more.