Have you even had a gardener?

Yes thank you! Mine did my mental health the world of good. Divine man ……..….!

What lot of good advice and help.
Thank you, I'm starting making enquiries as soon as I finish reading these forums.

There is a site called. Next door that you can go sign up to your local area and ask for recommendations, that’s how we found our gardener.

Don't pay by the hour - my opinion. I have a postage stamp size garden which I could easily do myself in half hour but for my severe allergies. My 'gardener' potters around, spends 2 hours and charges £20. His point is --- waste of his time and petrol, coming here for just half hour - fair enough.

I think plenty of people feel as you do ExD about getting someone in but honestly, I feel it's as important as a plumber or a roofer. You are looking after the house and the garden. Perhaps more akin to a hairdresser as it is more cosmetic than critical but if you see the amount people spend in garden centres, money better spent, in my opinion on a skilled hand, who will show you how to take cuttings and make compost, and prune so you never need to spend a fortune at the GC ever again.
Asking the local garden club is an excellent idea.

My brother who loves his garden, but like you suffers dreadfully from his back, had 6 waist high raised beds built in his front garden with a hedge to screen them from the street and he grows all his vegetables as well as flowers for the house.

I've got a very part-time gardener who prunes the shrubs twice a year and then just if I need extra help with something.
He was recommended by my neighbour. He also cleans out the gutters etc.
Recommends are a good idea, for me anyway, as I had such difficulty finding a gardener who would actually turn up when he said, not charge exorbitant prices, and do a good job.

Many years ago I was a single parent holding down two jobs. I only had a small garden but my pretentious neighbours moaned about the state of it. I did not have time to do it. I found a great gardener who charged me £10 a month and £20 at the change of the season when he put new plants in. I could ill afford to employ him but it was so nice to come home to a lovely garden. He also got lots of work off my neighbours. We were so disappointed when he moved on to doing large landscape type gardens.

We’ve always had a gardener to do our tree work, as they need specialist care. He put a card through our door 30 years ago, and he’s still going, although his son now does the main work. We also employ another one, because the first is just a surgeon really, to mow our lawn, which we can no longer do. Quite a large garden, on a hill, so impossible for us. He charges £35 for that. The trees, mainly lander lie, are around £200 every couple of years.

Both Gardeners i have had have been women, i "inherited" one when i lived in the South,she was was great at keeping the roses looking stunning and everything tidy and neat ( not my style) but i knew i wouldnt be there long. When i moved to Scotland i contacted the village Gardening club and they recommended a lady in the village, she is fantastic, she loves the shabby chic look that i like. Try your local Gardening club

Thanks folks.
I was feeling somewhat embarrassed to be honest, a bit as though I was getting too big for my boots and 'above myself' but I feel more relaxed about it now. DH cannot understand me, but then anyone who has never had a back problem can't understand the problems it brings.
He keeps thinking I'm going to be all cured by summer, but my GP has said at my age (I'm 81) its unlikely I'll be fit enough to do a number of things I used to do.
I have seen a van at a house down the road, although I don't know the people - I'll pluck up the courage to ask them about him, he could perhaps combine his visits and save himself travel expenses.

My elderly Dad employs a gardener for two hours a week, plus a fortnightly grass cutting service from another specialist company, he has a huge lawn that requires a small tractor to cut it. The gardener he found by word of mouth, he’s an enthusiast who has won many prizes for his fantastic floral displays and landscaping over the years. He charges £40 a visit, and does a really good job. The Grass cutting Man and his young mate come once a fortnight during the summer months, bring all their own equipment, and charge £65 per visit. Dad found them off the local councils ‘Trusted Trader’ website, and likewise they do a good job.
In contrast, l once employed someone to do my garden from a local landscape garden company, and they turned out to be a ‘demolishing team! They pulled up all my heathers, cut back my roses to their roots, and killed my clematis, they clearly had no idea what was needed, and left my garden looking a right mess. It turned out they were actually the firms Bricklayers, who took the job on for a bit of cash on the side, this should never have been allowed to happen, they ruined my Garden, and in the end l had it mostly block paved by a different company, and made into a large Patio, to that l could manage it myself.

Have you even had a gardener?

It depends what you mean by "had".

Found a gardener a few years ago when DH was unable to do much for a few months, he cut the lawns beautifully, and edged them perfectly....never looked as good, but he did charge £30 for it , once a fortnight.I did the other stuff myself.
Am sure I could have got a general handyman to do the lawns for less , although he may not have done such a good job.

Yes, a couple cut my grass every week in the Spring through to Autumn (fortnightly if it is very dry) and a young woman started in October doing just two hours a week, weeding, planting, moving plants and cutting back because it had all got on top of me. I may have her every week in the spring/ summer or every other week depending on what needs doing. She also works for two neighbours and seems happy to be flexible.
I know many of you love gardening -sadly I don’t, but I hate to see it looking unkempt.
£15 an hour seems to be the going rate locally.

we have employed all sorts over the years . I used to do a fair bit myself but DH isn't really interested. In the Summer our young volunteers help in exchange for board and lodging but it can be variable! Once some boys mowed right over the flower bed and on another occasion a favourite plant was weeded
We have a massive garden so there is always something to do. It needs a team.
I pay a gardener about £60 to do occasional heavy work that would be for 3 or 4 hours. and there is a young woman locally who has a horticulture qualification and she has been pruning rather enthusiastically! It will be interesting to see if anything comes up. I like her coming as I think the garden likes to be tended and we can talk about the plants.
I stick to the greenhouse and raised beds for vegetables and herbs. That's my department. I have a rose garden too and I am fond of them....

I hope you find some help. It is no fun if your back is painful. Build raised beds.

I have a gardener who charges £12.50 an hour. I am a keen gardener with a bad back. I give her a list and she gets on with the tasks. I find two hours once a fortnight keeps things going. More would be better if I could afford it! Tasks vary from cutting the hedges, pruning roses, weeding and emptying the compost bins. She is pretty knowledgeable. Ask around neighbours with lovely gardens as I did or advertise on local network.

SueDonim- spot on. So many so called-gardeners are nothing of the sort and have no knowledge- just wanted to give up their job and do something else, and can cut grass but not much else.

I would interview any prospective gardener by walking around the person (the only good gardener I know is female) - and ask them for advice on what to do with this and that plant- pretend not to know and play the fool- truth would quickly be out.

And I would be quite pro-active at being in garden with that person, doing easy tasks which would not hurt my back and keep an eye- until I feel s/he knows what s/he is doing- and also takes the trouble to ask for opinion.

Hope your back improves soon - lots of swimming and pilates perhaps?

£12 an hour to mine. I tell him exactly what needs doing and he just does it!

Ask local FB pages for recommendations. We pay around £20 per hour. But that's for the tough jobs that need equipment eg long strimmer, ladders etc. usually twice per year. Keeps it under control.

I have a gardener but he’s definitely not a plantsman! He does the grass, borders & hedges. He doesn’t know anything much about plants, I either do that myself or get him to do it with precise instructions.

I spotted my occasional gardener on the local community Facebook page. He charges £15 an hour and is hard working, very tidy and does a good job of the basics. Does he know a flower from a weed? I’d say he’s learning to.

We'll be looking for a gardener soon. We've had 2 since moving here in 2018, but both overworked.
We used to enjoy gardening, but too much physically for us now.
Good idea about local internet groups - we belong to one.

I have a gardener who comes for a whole day every week in the summer and usually every two weeks in the winter. He’s wonderful and reliable but it took a while to find him. I’m useless with flowers and plants but he’s really good and has lots of good ideas.

I would suggest looking around where you live, keep an eye out for their vans, but it may be easier in the spring than now and try someone out.

I have a gardener and he is great
I live alone and could do it all myself as I have the time and I'm healthy but unfortunately I don't have the inclination
I choose to spend my time doing the things I enjoy and feel it's money well spent

I pay a fellow £15 to do a fair amount of grass cutting but zilch else.

He has worked here now for around 6 years but before that I had some horrors charging up to £30 an hour and leaving devastation behind- grass cuttings everywhere.

I found this fellow on my local Nextdoor.