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Once you have your basics buy tools as you need them, bear in mind you first trading year will be a big Tax bill as you have to pay up front for 6 months !
Ask other trades where they advertise and if they are successful with their ad, you will soon find one place being recommended more than the rest, word your ad carefully and pay for one that can be seen not just a line ad, get out there, price highish, work hard and you won't be short of business, I only needed 3 months of advertising and all the rest was recommendations....there is only so many days of the week to fill with regular work so it doesn't take long to get maxed out ;-)
Plan for the winter, enjoy the summer...
Good luck
I don't think I'll be able to do my current job part time, as I do all the assessing of the crashed cars. I had enough of a battle getting a day off a week for the RHS course.
My major concern is having enough work through the winter. It seems so long ago that I did anything in my own garden. If I knew how to lay paving, decking, fencing etc would this put me in a better situation for the winter? How long are you normally out of work for?
As I'm 6 and a half foot tall I was planning on calling myself Green Giant Gardens. Does anyone know if I'll come up with problems with Green Giant Sweetcorn for taking their name? Not sure if it's an issue if we are not in the same line of business.
We all had to start somewhere and no doubt experienced the same problems etc . Ditto other posts re Paul Power's excellent book - think it's available online now .
The first year is the hardest and you must have funding to get by. I would start when the season is well under way if you can pref part time to feel the water . Try and build up a core of bread n butter regulars and you will soon get a feel for what is required and you are comfortable doing. Don't worry about the hard landscaping side of things that will come later if you wish - there is plenty of other work to keep you going to start with.
Polish up your selling skills !
Get to network with hard landscapers in your area , a lot can't be arsed with mainenance and arn't horticulturists . If you are able to put work their way they will treturn the favour ( and buy you a drink I'm sure :-)
Last but not least - always keep your business hat on . You have to get your sums right and make a profit which is tough right now . Be prepared to reinvest as much as you can at the beginning which will reap rewards later on.
It sounds as tho you have the passion and hard work and determination will see you through
Best of luck
Mark said:
welcome to the site i wish i would have found this site when i first started up because there is so much infomation available.
i did a landscape /construction short course at pershore college a few years ago i found it really useful,so i would recommend it.
where are you based ?
As for Pershore College I find it a place of great inspiration. The gardens are superb, if a little bleak this time of year, although I spotted some snowdrops the other day. They have a tropical glasshouse, planted up an ex Kew chap who's let me lend a hand in there which has been great. We started in October, with some of the plants up to the roof already!
Hi Nathan
As a garden designer I can attest to the fact there is definitely a big demand for gardeners. So many of my clients ask me if I know of anyone that can do it on a regular basis and the answer is always no. Everyone reliable is booked solid.
I would think you will get plenty of work without the need for hard landscaping skills. To be honest I think you will be up against a lot of competition on that - every time we have a recession that causes builders to be out of work, they tend to try their hand at landscaping (with mixed results). It may be an avenue to do in time, more strings to your bow and all that. Perhaps get a part-time apprenticeship with a hard landscaper?
As for design, there are lots of colleges offering part time courses. My advice on that would be to meet the tutors and ask to look at their students work so you can see the standard and assess if you like the tutor. *warning -shameless plug coming up* If you just want a good understanding of design, then I teach an online course for homeowners and landscapers wanting to increase learn design. It's not an accredited course, just a step by step how to that anyone can follow.
Good luck with it all - you've picked a great career (except when it's cold and raining)!