Does anyone else have trouble finding a gardener?

martinthebandit

halogen wrote: »

If finding a gardener is anything like finding a cleaner, i feel your pain!

If your willing to pay a fair wage then cleaners are relatively easy to find.

If you only want to pay minimum wage (or less when travel costs etc are taken into account) then good cleaners are as common as hens teeth.

bertiewhite

It's easy for me to find a gardener - she's usually sat in front of the TV.

Seriously though, the going rate round our way is £15/hr.

halogen

martinthebandit wrote: »

If your willing to pay a fair wage then cleaners are relatively easy to find.

If you only want to pay minimum wage (or less when travel costs etc are taken into account) then good cleaners are as common as hens teeth.

If you say so... would £10/hour be considered fair?

martinthebandit

halogen wrote: »

If you say so... would £10/hour be considered fair?

Would you do it for £10 an hour?


Me neither.

halogen

Yes. I would. If i was physically capable of it. I'm not though.
What would be fair then?

martinthebandit

halogen wrote: »

Yes. I would. If i was physically capable of it. I'm not though.
What would be fair then?

Ah, it's not a question of how much is 'fair' it's a question of how much a cleaner is worth on the open market and if you are having trouble getting a cleaner then you need to increase the rewards you are offering.

If you can get someone who will do a good job for minimum wage then well done you.

If you can't, then it's simple economics, you need to increase the pay you are offering.

halogen

hmmm I think thats missing the point. Everytime I've tried to look I've always said payment negotiable but I've never even got anyone to the point of having that discussion.

bobwilson

Nathaniel_Essex wrote: »

I just have to rant. For almost 3 years I have been looking for a gardener. I have tried mobile apps, Facebook, RatedPeople and so on. The most recent attempt was an ad in a window and like the rest before them; responded in good time, arranged a meeting but failed to show up.
I have been in contact with no less then 10 people and it's always the same.

I am not even including those who I sent pictures to only to quote almost £100 to cut a small front garden and hedge.

You're not alone. When I lived in south London, the only company to reply quoted me £hundreds for a small amount of work, but assured they'd send professional gardeners. They then sent around some hooligans with no gardening experience at all, who proceeded to completely destroy the garden (e.g. cutting edges with the wrong tool and ending up ripping turf off all the edges among other things). I had to run outside & lend them the correct tools from my shed & explain to them how to do basic gardening tasks.

My point being, you are not alone. In the U of K we don't have such a good tradesmen culture like in other countries. It tends to be infested with hooligans with no real interest or skill in the trade who just want quick cash.

sevenhills

halogen wrote: »

hmmm I think thats missing the point. Everytime I've tried to look I've always said payment negotiable but I've never even got anyone to the point of having that discussion.

It is the person doing the work that will decide the payment level, you are merely asking for a quote.

glasgowdan

Indeed... maybe a potential customer who thinks they pull the strings sends huge alarm bells ringing in the heads of a tradesperson. Maybe a customer thinking they can "negotiate" what I earn to pay my mortgage and support the future for my family is a customer who will always struggle to find a dependable gardener!