questons on garden service's

Hello all, A quick question about my gardening business, I am almost set up to start my mobile maintenance service but i have a few questions that i am not so sure on so if anyone can give me information it would be appreticated

1. Probably a simple one but what do I do with Green waste after i have mowed lawns and trimmed the hedges etc... Do i need a license to dispose of it or can i just take it to a recycle site in my area for free?

i know another option would be the customers green waste bin but not all have one.

2. The thing i am most worried about is the winter, is there anyone that runs a mobile garden service that finds work in the winter, i have put down that i can do snow clearing but thats really all i can think of, maybe some gutter clearing but i think if we have really bad weather i would struggle to find work which in turns means no funding for my business to keep going.

 

I have had my own garden maintenance business for 6 years now. I dispose of clippings, grass mowings, in the clients` green bin. As for the winter, I lost a lot of work last year because of the weather. Are your clients happy to pay you to clear snow, especially if the roads are blocked anyway? As with most things gardening, your money is made spring and summer. If you can find alternative employment overwinter, then do so.

 

I have been doing garden services for 3 years ... I have no formal horticultural qualifications, and learn from expereince and from forums such as this one ... there are some very knoweleagble people on this forum and they are always very helpful

I struggled to get work in the beginning, and jobs were small (mainly mowing/weeding and some soft landscaping

as you become more experienced, you get referals when your clients are happy, and they will always keep you busy, as people lead very active lives and don't have the time to tend to their gardens

winter can be rough as there is not much gardening work ... if you are handy with your hands, there is lots of hard landscaping work such as building decking etc ...

from these jobs, you will get continuous work to maintain and landscape the gardens ... there is also fence repair, tree removal/pruning and hedge pruning during the cold months

if you are not handy, act as a middle man and subcontract the work to those who are skilled and who have the tools ... there are many Eastern Europeans who do a very good job for very cheap

of late, there are many unemployed people who enjoy gardening, so there are some people who will work for as little as £6 an hour ... these guys normally just mow and weed, but they do a good service for the money they charge, and if you get to know them, and if you are very busy, you can employ them to help

do everything legit .... i.e. declare your taxes ... it's not worth the risk of trying to cheat, as you will eventually get nailed by the tax guys

you also need to get decent equipment such as an Etesia pro-lawnmower, a large ride on mower for the larger jobs ... a mower that can do stripes (many people still insist on the stripe thing) ... a decent Stihl hedge trimmer etc ... do this gradually as the work gets busier, and buy off ebay or gumtree for cheap and keep the equipment serviced

you need to contact your local council and tender for work ... there is loads ... loads of this work is crappy work, such as rough cut mowing on motorways etc, but money is OK and keeps you busy ... eventually, you will get better jobs with them when they get to know you

you need to contact businesses and tender to maintain their gardens .... loads of work and if your rates are good, you will be very busy ... look at industrial sites

advertise for free on sites such as Gumtree

I have approached several large companies in my area and have offered to maintain their office plants ... easy peezy ... go there once a week, ensure that the potplants are watered and doing well ... add a few potplants once in a while and there is good money to be made ... this is a good steady monthly income that does not take much time

the whole trick in this game is marketing .... if you are polite, sharp and offer a good service at a good price, you will be busy

I don't know if it's allowed to link to another forum that specialises with landscapers, but I find landscapejuicenetwork very good as most of the members there are professional landscapers and you will learn lots there

Discussion Forum - Landscape Juice Network

 

Hi. I have been looking after peoples gardens for about 13 years now.
Most of them have compost heaps. (They are mostly big gardens).
If i went to a new customer and they didn't have a compost heap i would talk them into getting one. They (9 times out of 10) see the sense when i explain that i have to pay to get rid of their green waste. Also it is just great for their garden to recycle the waste.
There are places that take 'trade' green waste and it is not that expensive to get rid of it. Local authority community tips will let you take green waste there if the customer is with you when you go there.
In a few gardens i have builders bags and i fill them with weeds, branches, stuff that takes too long to compost or shouldn't go on the compost. When the bags get full i put them in the van and the customer comes to the tip with me and that is it....done.
You need a carriers license to transport waste that is from someones garden but only if it is waste not created from work you did there, so if someone rang you up and asked you to come and get rid of a load of green waste for them you would need a license. I had one years ago but you are very unlikely to get pulled over and checked out to see if it is legit. Anyway, if someone wants you to go and remove waste for them, by the time you work out your time, petrol and dumping fee they will probably recoil in horror at the quote (+ someone has to help pay for your license as it is part of your expenditure).
As for winter work, if you get big enough gardens to look after the winter isn't a problem as there is always something that needs doing, turning compost for one thing :WINK1:... I have cleared drives for some of my older customers but that's if you can get there in the first place.
Over the years my customers have become like friends, they don't want to see me struggling and they will ask me if i want to do any painting or DIY in their house before they call a decorater in. Also did a part time electrics course for 2 years and they get me doing the smaller electrics and simple plumbing jobs too, stuff that doesn't need a Corgi registered plumber to do it. If you are good at anything else apart from gardening and you let your customers know, once they know you work hard and they trust you they will find you other things to do when the seasons are not in your favour.
Like Daitheplant said earn enough in the good times to cater for the bad times...that means some long hours.
Winter.....Clean patios, decking. Erect or fix fences, attack nasty spots in the gardens that you don't have time to do in the summer (most gardens have those 'nasty spots'. Leaf clearing (my worst bit :()
The best thing i can say is to try and get some big gardens, i know its not that easy but if you get a good reputation word of mouth will see you ok.

 

Tax credits

Now IF only you were 25, or lived with a partner, if you work 30hrs per week then the Gov give you £88pw on top of your income
Too many ifs and ands to explain here but that is the basic
Go here for the full entitlement
HM Revenue & Customs: Check if you qualify for tax credits - quick questionnaire

As I am "in the trade sort of speak"
When I retire, I intend to be a self employed Daffodil grower
I will buy my bulbs and cultivate them , so set off the start up costs against any income, then when the crop fails set the loss against any income and start again the following year nice £88 per week to keep me going in my retirement :-)

I had dealings with an "author" self employed, not made much income but has been published "a six page how to ebay" Well it is work JIM but not as we know it not as we know it, so gets his £88pw from "Call me Dave"

To me £88pw would be a kings ransom, but to someone down SARF with intentions, would be a pittance, but it would keep you going through the winter and at least pay for half a bottle of bollinger :-)

Jack McHammocklashing

 

ahh thanks guys your all very helpful That compost idea is good, ill talk the customers in to having a compost heap, just let them know its good for the garden if they complain about the smell ill just chuck some news paper in it that keeps the smell away.

the winter work will involve snow clearing if i can lol but ill try make my earnings over the good periods of weather.

 

it's a tough old world being a gardener .... gave a quote for landscaping part of a large garden ... so, to keep costs down, emailed the client with links to ebay buy it now auctionsand told them to buy the plants themselves and contact me as the plants are delivered, and I will pop around and plant them on the same day ... (so, would have to visit there a few times, as the plants would arrive at different times)

this what I quoted and suggested:
10 large leafed hostas
5 huechera berry smoothie
5 huechera electra
5 Fern Dryopteris Affinis
1-YELLOW LEAF - SAMBUCUS NIGRA
1-SAMBUCUS NIGRA black beauty
1-fatsia japonica
1-photina red robin
1X 4FT EXTRA LARGE CEANOTHUS CONCHA
12-Hakonechloa macra Aureole(not off ebay, but direct from the supplier)
3--star jasmine creepers
3- bags of compost and 3 bags of manure and some fertilizer (from the nearest garden centre)

and £35 labour to prepare the holes and the beds, plant them and water them

so the total cost for the whole job including the labour,plants and shipping works out to £296.20 (will be a bit less as there will be combined shipping) ...

I charged £7 an hour (just so that I could get the job as it's in the same road as where I live) and I worked out that I could do the job in 5hrs (I have already spent 1 1/2 hours emailing them with the links!)

got a mail back from the client saying that they are happy with the plant selection, are willing to buy them themselves off ebay from the links I supplied, but feel that £35 labour is way too high and they feel I should be able to plant them in 2hrs and they will pay me £14 for the labour and nothing more

I won't even reply to them, they can do it themselves! ... I'm starting to get the feeling that they planned to plant them themselves and just wanted suggestions

 

I'd say you were dealing with cheap-scates there, Dim, and find a client worth dealing with.

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence knows that someone offering specific gardening services will cost hundreds of pounds and that the quote you gave is very very reasonable.
I'm used to (and happy to) paying roughly £10 for a decent plant (in a GC) - they must be living in cloud cuckoo land

I have a local Tree Surgeon whom i use occasionally and his bill to me is £90 for about a few hours work !
You get what you pay for.

 

I'm not a full time (ie paid for it) gardener, but I have an allotment plot and if a local gardener offered me green waste, I'd happily take it, to compost for the plot. If it had also been put through a shredder first...even better!!

The majority of my home made compost consists of grass clippings from the Church next door, returned newspapers from the local shop (when I catch the man collecting these old bundles..I get a years supply from him) and free local manure when I need it, I collect it all and it makes wonderful compost if turned regulalry.

heaven086, maybe you could look up your local allotment and see if anyone there would be willing to take your extra green waste from you.

Steve...

 

Hi, I've been doing ppl's gardens for over 20 years now part time, (bloomin' heck...that seemed to creep up a bit fast!) Like Simon, I am lucky that most of my gardens have compost heaps and green bins which I use for bind weed roots and other perennial stuff or seeding stuff I think might be a problem. I say lucky, but most gardens I do are ones I have done design and planting in...so I always incorporated compost bins.
By the way....they don't smell at all!

You can take green waste to our local council site and don't pay if it's your own garden waste but are supposed to pay if it's garden business waste. Sometimes I have too much to compost...such as after an annual hedge cut or similar. I then use builders tote bags and take it to our tip...so far I have never been asked to pay. I think they see a 5' and a bit woman struggling with a big bag, come and help and never imagine I am a gardener!

I have some big gardens where there is always work to do through the whole year. The only exception is when it's frozen or snow covered. You do have to allow for short December days when it's dark soon after 3pm and spells when you can't work for bad weather.
Winter up to Christmas is often brilliant for digging...veg plots and any areas for new plantings etc. Also, the winter is good for pruning fruit trees and roses etc. If the weather is mild, ppl like their lawns topped for Christmas....and there is always leaf clearing.
General tidying and any hard landscaping jobs, relaying damaged parts of paths/patios etc, making new ones..so long as it's not freezing.
Winter after Christmas, going into Spring is good for cutting back herbacious perennials that have now stopped looking all pretty with their frosted stems and seedheads, and now turned to mush.
Also, depending on what qualifications you have, you might try and get a bit of work for a local garden/nursery open to the public? I do a day a week at Stillingfleet Lodge, we find the winter is never quite long enough to get everything done we want to get done before the garden reopens in April!