@SalixGold, sad but so true, one of the other issues is that as the work is generally low paid they have to mow & blow and get to the next job fast in order to make a living . I agree about trying local hort colleges not just for current students, you want some of their best graduates. I believe most colleges keep lists of suitable ones and will put you in touch. Worth a try.
Mine was training to be a landscape gardener so i let him come up witha planting plan for one area. We were converting cow pasture to garden so had the space. It gave him interest and incentive to do the more mundane jobs of weeding and digging beofre getting on with some planting.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
@Obelixx Good luck with the San Marzano toms - I tried them for the first time this year and to say I'm not impressed with their flowering/fruiting would be a bit of an understatement. Weather hasn't helped admittedly.
@Joyce Goldenlily ah that must be difficult for you, I hope you manage to find someone good. I hate anyone else touching my garden, husband is barely allowed in it 🤣 well, unless I need some heavy lifting work doing!
Students sound like a good idea though.
Slowly building a wildlife garden, in a new build in East Yorkshire.
One thing to watch out for is getting stung. I did and so did my daughter by two different gardeners on opposite ends of the U.K. which might be a coincidence or country wide. Both did a great job for several days doing 75% of the work then asked for their estimate to be settled which seemed reasonable as they worked very hard for several days. Did they return after being paid NO and we could not contact them again. Cash payment of course.
I have been thinking about autumn after all! It's been chilly and damp today for August and OH has given me a birthday present in advance, a gazebo, so I've been looking at roses to grow up it, which I'll order in the autumn.
I'm browsing garlic, potatoes for Christmas, spring bulbs and himself is planning some more planters and raised beds. I'm also after a really deep orange rose for a border which is pale peachy. I'm also buying a scuba diving kit, flippers and taking out shares in an umbrella company
Anyone I have employed (ad hoc, just for big jobs) that advertises as a "gardener", including students, is really just up to chop and lop, mow and blow. I must have paid 20 or so people over the years.
I would add that I have been truly struck by how much vastly stronger men are and how much more they can get through in an hour or a day. In some cases it has been more that 2:1 with the people I have employed, and it shows in digging and carrying particularly. As a lifelong feminist who believes in parity it's kind of upsetting to see that there is just no parity at all when it comes to strength and workload. (Of course there are many other necessary factors at play, too).
Also have proper digging and garden skills makes every kind of difference. Using a spade doesn't seem like it would be an involved business, but, my god, watching someone work at speed, who really knows what they are doing, versus someone who has no clue, is a revelation.
I have just moved and keen to make new friends I got chatting to one of my new neighbours. She enjoys the garden and I noticed she had employed a young lady designer who certainly looked the part on her mobile, I assumed coordinating various elements of the design.
How wrong I was, she was totally disorganised it would seem going to a local garden centre for a bag of horticultural sand because she had run out took an hour and charged £50 for the privileged. The bill has not been paid and I fear many plants will be lost due to poor prep and lack of understanding the soil.
It is circumstances like these that concern me, the garden is North facing and some of the plants such as a repeat of Heuchera Obsidian that needs sun was repeated through out the space. The situation was difficult for me, young designers should be encouraged but what happens when they get things wrong and charge a fortune. Some one is left with disappointment when excitment should be the first reaction.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
Posts
I agree about trying local hort colleges not just for current students, you want some of their best graduates. I believe most colleges keep lists of suitable ones and will put you in touch. Worth a try.
Weather hasn't helped admittedly.
Students sound like a good idea though.
@Obelixx, I've sent you a PM.
I'm also after a really deep orange rose for a border which is pale peachy.
I'm also buying a scuba diving kit, flippers and taking out shares in an umbrella company
How wrong I was, she was totally disorganised it would seem going to a local garden centre for a bag of horticultural sand because she had run out took an hour and charged £50 for the privileged. The bill has not been paid and I fear many plants will be lost due to poor prep and lack of understanding the soil.
It is circumstances like these that concern me, the garden is North facing and some of the plants such as a repeat of Heuchera Obsidian that needs sun was repeated through out the space. The situation was difficult for me, young designers should be encouraged but what happens when they get things wrong and charge a fortune. Some one is left with disappointment when excitment should be the first reaction.