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For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
Cornwall Landscaping said:
from the many previous discussions on here it is clear to me that when providing maintenance you can generally earn (when starting out) more for what you do as apposed to what you know. What I mean by this is you can struggle to earn between £12 and £15 per hour for working with a spade, fork and secateurs. But if you work with a petrol driven mower, strimmer and hedge trimmer you can earn £20+ per hour straight away.
The difference in set up cost however is significant, so as Cornwall Landscaping states there are decisions to be made especially if the maintenance side is acting as a means to an end in respect of your garden design business.
Hopefully you will deduce from the extensive information and opinions the best way forward for you. For sure however if there is any further info you need you have found the right place to ask.
Good luck and welcome aboard
As well as the obvious kit, a few builders bulk material bags always come in handy for moving rubbish etc.
The important thing is to work your rate out (use Phils handy calculator that is on this site as a guide) and stick to it. I find the best thing with one off jobs is to quote for the job and not by the hour.
Regarding pesticides, yest you need qualifications to spray commercially. Derby College and Askham Bryan in York are the closest to Sheffield I think.
Good luck.
Paul Gregory
I use the NFU for insurance, costs me about 330 quid for van plus the same again for 2.5 mil of public liability.
Try to keep to £15 an hour min if you have invested in the business..you'll need it to keep going, work hard & customers will flock to you ;-) Once you have got through the pain barrier (for the first 3 months or so) you'll be fine.
Good luck
Mark
All excellent advise already given.
If I have read you posting correctly I gather you are still teaching? If this is correct and you have a bit of time to plan your attack and to get ready.
If I was in your shoes I would be tempted to wait until late feb to actually start in earnest. Winters will be hard for the 1st year or two so it is better to have a number of regular clients under your belt before your first winter and also to build up a bit of cash,
Firstly plan how and where tou are going to advertise your garden maintenance business - I think this would be a better entry point rather than design and as you said one will feed the other.
Stick to a sensible hourly rate but also be prepared to offer fix price work you will take a hit on some but gain on others until you have a bit of expercience under your belt.
Don't limit yourself to just general garden maintenance. Some clients will only require lawn cutting with the odd additional job. If possible insist that the clients compost the green waste or use the council green bins that they have else charge then for the tipping and travel time. Check out the local council green waste station to find out how much it will cost you.
Search all the forums and I am sure that you will find answers to most of yor likely questions or at least prompt you to ask even more questions!
Finally rather than purchasing hedge cutting gear and the like for your first job, consider hiring equipment and if possible bunch the work together so that you can knock 2 or 3 out in a day. This will also allow you to try out different equipment to get a better feel as to whats suits you.
Good luck there is no other job quite like it but it takes time and effort and the rewards will come in more ways than one.
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