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Review system for bad customers?

Hi all

 

I have been running my garden maintenance business for 30 years now and am I the only who thinks it is getting harder and harder satisfing our clients?  They appear to hold so much power over us with google reviews etc and I feel it is now tim

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Advice please

Hi again everyone. Thinking ahead to spring next year. How soon after scarifying and overseeding can you apply the usual high nitrogen spring fertiliser? Can you apply immediately after sewing the seed or do you have to wait until it germinates?

I'm t

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Personal Account

Hi

 

How many on here uses a personal account for your business?

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Towed leaf sweeper

Anyone got/used a towed leaf sweeper behind  a ride on ? Any good? What they like in the wet? Any recommended makes? Thanks 

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Sealey earth auger

Thought I'd share our experiences after purchasing a Sealey earth auger. Needed for a 2000 hole planting job . Wanted the convenience of our own machine rather than hiring and budget wouldn't justify a Stihl machine at a£1000.

Plenty of earth augers o

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Equipment you would like to rent, but can't find

What items of equipment have you tried to rent but either had difficulty finding them or maybe not managed to find them at all? 

Here are a few examples:

Power Rake (for soil preparation)

Power Scythe

Powered Hayrake

Powered Soil Sieve

Fence Post Driver

 

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Roof Rack Query

Looking for a bit of help re roof racks. Current van is the new shape Peugeot Expert. I use the van a fair bit out of work too and often have to go under those 2m high barriers at places.

Without a roof rack the van just about fits under them. Does

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Echo PB 9010T

We currently use the Echo PB 8010 blowers,  awesome machines. Seen that Echo have now bought out the PB 9010T which has more power , 48 Newtons as opposed to 44 Newtons with the 8010.

Struggling to find any in the UK anyone know of any dealers holding

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Concrete under lawn.

For four seasons I have been cutting a lawn on an as and when basis with the brief of just keeping it reasonably tidy. 

There is a patch in it which I always assumed is where the concrete mixer stood and was washed out when the house was built. 

This y

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Inflation

Just a heads up on the other threads about rising costs etc.

I have just been given notice that some stock bricks will be increasing by a MASSIVE 28.5% on October 1st. This is from a smaller builders merchants chain in the South East but after giving

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Introduction letter, email - advice, comments ..

What does one think of my introductory email letter re new commercial business to managing agents.Any comments, to short, too long, anything to add, anything to remove, typos!Here goes!----Dear sirs,Thank you kindly for sparing two minutes of your va

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Red thread

Any advice from the forum would be much appreciated on how to deal with a lawn that has brown patches that are proving difficult to clear, despite applications of Dualitas, regular aeration and collecting when mowing. I think it's red thread it happy

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Clover.

Hi everyone. I taken over maintenance of a lawn that has been kep short but is covered by about 80% clover. 

I think the cause could be down to poor soil nutrition?   If I kill it all off now then the customer will be left with a massive amount of dea

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What's your biggest garden design bugbear

Good morning everyone.  This week I'm working on a Q&A blogpost to be published later in the month. It will be about overcome difficulties with any aspect of garden design - long waiting times, complex relationships, hard-to-build designs, selling th

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Reducing height of Conifer hedge

In the last week, I have been to view two jobs that have required me to reduce the height of the conifer hedge by about 2'. I have cut a large number of hedges, but, have never reduced the height of a conifer hedge. With business going really slow (d

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Box caterpillar moth in the Chilterns

Anyone else working in and around the Chilterns, particularly High Wycombe?

This last week I have come across box caterpillar moth in two of my gardens in High Wycombe. It's the first time I've come across it up here, I had been hoping it was just tha

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Queens funeral

Hi guys and girls Are you working on Monday as usual (domestic gardens) ?

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Did you know if you use Professional plant protection products (PPPs) you have to register with DEFRA as a user?

Not a lot of people are aware but if you’re a business, organisation or sole trader that uses professional PPPs and adjuvants in Wales, Scotland or England you have to register to comply with regulations.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pro

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Porcelain Patio slabs

Hi Everyone, looking for some advice or information if anyone has come across this before.

I am trying to cut a circle out of a 1200 x 600 porcelain patio slab (22mm thick) using a small grinder and porcelain blade but it keeps popping. 

I'm doing the

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What are the expensive materials causing delays for Tradespeople ?

Since 2020, tradespeople have had to balance record demand for their services with rising costs and materials shortages.

Against a backdrop of rising inflation and a cost of living crisis, the latest data shows that businesses are still having to tur

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