Underperforming Laurel Hedge

Looking for some advice on best options to feed a laurel hedge where the specimens are all thin and sad looking. They've not been pruned properly in the past so now i've taken over I can get on with that which will help them fill out, but I'd like to

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Lesser celandine

Hi, an area of communal grass that I look after has quite a lot of celandine in, which of course is now flowering. Now that it's time to start mowing, would it be best to mow it down along with the grass or leave it to finish flowering. While it may

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Discussion on what makes a good business management software for you?

Hi All,

Having spoken with a few of you on the forum already & added some new features we are always looking for new ways to help. We know people are using a lot of different software's and want to understand, what do they not do that you need & what

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Etesia MVEHH 100 hydrostatic fluid change

Hi all - this is my first post on this forum, which has been very helpful for a few past issue. Thanks for having me.

I have an Etesia MVEHH 100 - the original shape, with hydrostatic transmission. I'm rather fond of the machine and intend to give it

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Pressure washing service

Hi i am looking to add pressure washing services along side my garden work and i am wondering do most ppl add pressure washing or amni better to go down the soft washing route for payio and driveaway any information would be great i have been looking

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Hayter 48 vs bbc

For everyone who followed our post on rear roller mower with variable speed and bbc along with reasonable weight,  we bought a Hayter 48 , not pro as wanted variable speed and its only going to do a couple of hours per week. 

So thoughts after first u

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Horticulture Week

Does anyone subscribe? We used to some years ago but felt it lost relevance for the SME sector so cancelled. 

Not cheap at £345 a year, looked at the current issue online and does seem to have some articles of interest to us but whether it will contin

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How to keep physically well when you're a gardener?

Hi all. I was wondering how many of you would admit to physical health issues when gardening. Just gardening - bending, twisting, lifting weights of various kinds, reaching a little beyond our comfortable range, can take its toll. The use of machiner

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Black Spot Remover

I was just wanting to know what brand of black spot remover people use. It seems so expensive and just wanted to make sure I get something effective and not harmful to surrounding plants and grass. have a job to do that is an old sandstone patio that

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Jetting drives as business

Evening all just looking for your opinions looking at doing drives/patio cleaning and reseal my question is do you use customers water supply or your own just looking into it any info please 

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Lawn compost spreader

Looking to buy a lawn compost spreader for top dressing.

Anyone got or used?

Numerous makes available with a lot  of Chinese generics with dubious reviews. Narrowed it down to Ezdoo, Walansee and Landzie, where do they get these names!

The Ezdoo comes o

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Selling a small gardening round

Hi, I'm looking at selling my small gardening round and wondered if anyone on here has sold or bought a round in the past and has any advice for me please?

It's only a small round with a minimum take of £10,000 per year but usually more with extras. M

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Lumag chipper.

Hi all, I have seen a lumag hc10 petrol wood chipper for sale not too far from me, quite new and a bit less than half the retail price. I haven't had a chipper before, I don't do big tree works, it would be more for chipping up shrub/ hedge reduction

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Transfer of grass clippings from ride on mower

This season, I hope to use my ride on mower with collector. In order to make it efficient, I need to consider how to transfer clippings from the collector to one ton bags. I have thought about reversing up onto car ramps with the bag underneath and d

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What are your 'anti-resolutions' for 2023?

At the beginning of every year we are told to set out our goals and write down our New Year’s resolutions, and they look great on paper but within a few days are often forgotten.

But for a change instead of focussing on things you 'should' do, what i

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Seasons greetings from the Voices

Dear All, 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support for another year at Landscape Juice!

We appreciate your constant use of the site and for keeping our community alive. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas

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Claiming machinery damage from customer

One of my monthly customers recently had some roofing work undertaken and a scaffold clamp was left behind in the long grass where the scaffolding had been, I ran over the clamp with my mower and it caused irrepairable damage

to my mower. I took image

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Stihl KM130 won't disengage

During the season, I noticed that the hedge cutter attachment on my Stihl KM130 would not disengage. Obviously, blades continually running can be quite dangerous. I read the manual and  it states:

"Turn the idle screw (LA) slowly counterclockwise unti

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being asked for formal quote of existing contract

Hi All

had this email from parish council that had contract with for over 7yrs,

& just sounds to me they asking in a round about way to retender.

Just wondering that others thought are & any advise please

regards 

marc

Hi Marc, sometime before January 23rd

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When is to cold to work / do certain jobs .

Looks like winter arriving this coming week , I usually carry on if it a frost / thaws by dinner time . I've still got quite a few jobs to get done yet mainly conifer hedges I usually would just do them but forecast of - 5 to - 7 overnight with day t

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Japanese acer tree pruning

 

I have been asked to prune this Japanese acer. It's magnificent but is spreading over a large area of the front garden and in summer seems all consuming to the client. I did lightly prune it in summer, but they are asking for a much more drastic pru

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Westermann?? Other mechanical moss brushes?... What actually works??

Hello all,

I hope everyone is well! 

I'm considering buying a Westermann sweeper to tackle moss on tarmac driveways (after spraying) - I was just looking for any feedback on the machine or similar tools. I have a couple of the Stihl combi brushes but d

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Makita DBN600RTJ

Hi All

Are Makita DBN600RTJ any good for fencing, using 75mm rails and 19mm boards ?

If not what do people recommend 

Cheers

Michael 

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Terms and conditions

Hi all

Thinking about the business side of things, most times the kind of people I work for are very nice - understanding, polite, sympathetic, friendly, don't hold you to a specific price for doing something it's hard to quantify an end of (such as a

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Hayter Harrier Pro41 steel roller?

I was wondering whether anyone else has had a harrier pro41 and had a steel roller put on instead of the plastic one?

I had a feeling I had seen and read something, (maybe even on social media) where it had been changed over and it was possible to do

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Van Insurance - especially if you're carrying pesticides and/or fuel

Dear All,

I'm attempting to renew the insurance on my van. I'm a self-employed 'one-man-band' operating in the North West. As I now have PA1/PA6 I am able to spray Herbicides/Moss Killers/Pesticides at my customers' premises. You might not think that

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Tips For Startup Gardening Businesses

Hi everyone, I'm approaching the hive mind for some help with a blog I've been asked to write for one of my clients.

'Top Tips For Starting A Gardening Business'

If you could start your business again - what would you do differently? In other words, wh

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What's Your Secret To Running A Thriving Business?

Last week I posted a new blog to the My Garden Design website.  As you probably know, my core business is landscaping, Rather than try to compete on price, I offer my clients a high standard of workmanship and the promise that they'll be over the moo

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Bolens mower.

Hi, the drive on my Toro has packed up so I could do with a cheap mulcher to get me to the end of the season. I've seen a bolens 22" self drive mulcher with 6hp b&s engine for sale near me at £100. I've no experience of them though, have any of you a

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Preparing new build garden with heavy soil for turf

I have a small turfing job (75square metres) in the back garden of a new build. We've cleared all the weeds and the usual ton of rubble, rubbish etc buried by the builders. The soil is quite heavy and needs some improvement and rotovating. What is th

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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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Rough cut mower 21 inch and self propelled?

Morning chaps!

 

just started work for a new customer, and I could do with a rough cut mower, for there orchids, and a few other rough areas, I used my Viking 655 yesterday, without the collecting box on, it did a good job to be fair, apart from half w

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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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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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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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Ten things you need to know about VAT invoices

Ten things you need to know about VAT invoices

With the change to ensuring all businesses who are Vat Registered submit digital VAT returns, I though this article would be a useful reference source.....

 

Need to register for VAT and start providing

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Slab laying.

Hi, a friend has asked me to lay some slabs in a chess board 'hit and miss ' fashion so there will be 13 slabs and 13 gaps. They will want to plant things in the gaps so I don't really want to stone the whole area down as a sub base. The ground is cu

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Pruning by a BT cable

One of my customers has a rambling rose that now is touching overhead BT cables. The chap who has been doing their hedge trimming for years will not prune the rose due to it's proximity to the cables. Does anyone have any experience of working around

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Customer Cash Flow dilemma .

Not sure what to do for the best here .

Doing a one off maintenance project for a customer i have worked for in the past but not a regular customer , however they always paid promptly and never any issues , lovely people .

Have submitted Two invoices ,

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Posthole borer for planting

We have a job coming up to plant 2000 plants in 2lt pots in ground that has brick ends,rubble etc 

Has anyone used a petrol posthole borer for similar? We do know we need one with a clutch as the one's without are wrist breakers.

Be grateful for any th

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Fencing Price per metre

There is a thread on this subject but it 2016. Prices have increased since then. What do you charge per metre for a Closeboard fence with Timber posts and gravel boards Say 2m high. 
or how do you price your jobs?

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Building a narrow Rill and connected waterfall... advice

So, as some of you may recall, I've retired, and am now concentrating on bringing an wild allotment back into shape, and making our new garden beautiful. Having learnt from seeing so many old people trying to look after gardens and houses that are wa

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What did we decide to do today?

Long time luker recent poster.

Im interested to know how people got on today in the soaring temperatures?

OK the press have made a meal of it but i decided at 1.30 enough is enough. My customers agreed light work in shade id possible and reduce hours. 

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Mower drive belt

Hi

After some advice on my weibang svp50 mower. The drive belt is starting to look like it's about to snap and after having having good look underneath it seems to go round the blade and then a couple of pulleys to the back of the mower.

Is this an eas

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Lawn maintenance in NI

hello all. Bit random but anyone here based in NI? How is business over the water? 

I was having a random conversation a while back, with a tradesman (not a gardener) and he says gardeners are in huge demand in NI. I was saying about my area was over

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Buddleja ( Buddlia ) Super plant of the future ?

Please forgive me for what maybe an obsession, but I have always been fascinated and in awe of the prolific Buddleja ( Buddlia ) bushes / trees that I have a skill for noticing, where they grow in the most inhospitable and bizarre locations, railway

Read more…

stihl MS 181 carburetor advice

I am having issues with my Carburetor and would really appreciate some advice. The initial symptoms were that as I reved the chainsaw, it would bog down. I tried to adjust it, but, as the trigger was pulled, it would bog down. I took it to my local r

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Reccomendations please...

For a cordless (battery) long reach  hedge trimmer.

  I've got an old stihl long reach hedge cutter. But it's REALLY heavy and not suitable for me for long periods of use due to its weight

I very rarely do any hedge work. Maybe 3 or 4 jobs a season? S

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Accountants.

Hi, I am a sole trader, no staff, not vat registered. I keep paper receipts and a record of my income. I don't have accounting software or spreadsheets. ( I'm quite old fashioned and like to keep things simple). I currently do my own self assessment

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New business enquiries

Hi everyone.  

 

I own and operate a small garden maintenance business.  It's me and a couple of guys working on an ad hoc basis.

 

We work many in domestic gardens ranging from small grass cuts to large gardens where we maintain everything.  

 

My questio

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Working around Bee's Safely , Any Advice ?

A couple of situations have arisen regarding Bee's 

Firstly i have discovered a colony of Bee's have taken up residency in my outbuilding where i store machinery and work materials , They come and go under a gap in the door , They seem docile if left

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Etesia mower.

Hi, thinking of getting an etesia mower, probably a pro 46. I currently use a hayter 41 pro ( which is great for the smaller/ fine lawns) and a Toro 22" recycler. However I need something that can boss the job a bit better than the Toro, it leaves a

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How do you tackle nice customers who happen to be a bit awkward at times

If you get lost in the rant, a few questions are in bold at the bottom!

Hope everyone is enjoying their bank holiday weekend which sort of brings me to the subject... last week we cut a few lawns which should have been cut on Monday, the previous Frid

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Ride on mower or compact tractor with Flail mower

For the past couple of seasons, I have worked for a client who has 12 acres of land, including a wood. I spend about 10 months of the year working at the property and do a wide range of jobs. The chief source of income during the summer is mowing the

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Hedge cutter trousers

Good evening, whilst trimming some small lonicera balls yesterday using a small hedge trimmer I accidentally caught my knee with the machine as I drew it back. It's not life threatening and I'll live to fight another day but it flipping hurt and coul

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What would you do?

The customer has a dog.... Obviously. With the dark spots. He's asked me to fix it. I suggested a light scarify to pick up the yellow - ish thatch. Then apply a nitrogen feed bring the rest of the garden up to the same green as where the dog has peed

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Bird seed sprouting all over lawn

A customer had a new lawn laid Two years ago and its looked perfect up until now . 

Bird seed has gerninated and woven itself into the lawn producing thick swards of grass .

Customer pulled me up asking why i had left the grass long and patchy in place

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The Science behind higher prices

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Thick thatch - use turfcutter?

I went to overseed a job I'd scarified before today and realised after taking a sample that there is still about 1 "" 2.5 cms of thatch still there. Obviously I should have checked this before. What do you think.f these options s:

1) Scarify again and

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Honda hrd536c

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has ran this machine in the past? It's a 4 wheel mower. I have had mine for almost 3 years. I have had the usual drive replaced at just under 2 years. And a few cables replaced and the top half of the clutch done soo

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Masport roller mower

Anyone got,used the 22inch rear roller, it's fixed speed and no BBC. Particularly interested in grass collection capabilities, how do you find y fixed speed and reliability?

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Strimming advice and possibly purchasing a Stihl KM-RG Reciprocator attachment

I would really appreciate some advice regarding strimming. I use a Stihl Kombi set-up and have a strimmer attachment for my KM131. This is incredibly powerful and on the whole does a good job. I have recently started at a church and use the strimmer

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To ride on, or not to ride on?

I've gained 4 large laws over the passed 2 years that take roughly an hour per lawn for 2 of us to mow with 42 inch push mowers , really am weighing up the pros and cons of a ride on now...would need a trailer and maybe a dedicate day to just do thes

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Roundup

Hello,A lady has approached me regarding her small 24m2 front lawn. She has spot weeded with roundup and the grass around the weeds is yellowing. She thinks she's killed it all! I don't use weedkiller in my work as I'm not licensed so I'm not sure if

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Best Drop Spreader for Lawn Seed

I'm a maintenance gardener getting up on my hind legs offering lawn treatments this season, plenty of demand but new to me operations. Bought an Earthway rotary spreader to spread seed and fert. It was ineffective with seed spreading but OK with fert

Read more…

Duty Of Care Waste Transfer Note

I have been informed by the enviromental that i need a Duty Of Care Transfer Note book, i have sourced one from Amazon but i'm struggling to understand how to fill it in as it  comes across that they think you work for one client per day, on my mowin

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Looking for a good lightweight steel deck pedestrian mower

Hi everyone, 

New on here and just after replacing my plastic-body mower for a steel/metal body one. I've had the Husky LC253S and have been really happy with it apart from the fragile composite body! I've done a couple of fixes with aluminium sheet a

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Mower fuel charge !!!

Hello All,

I am new to LJ and have been a Sole Trader since August offering a general garden service and bigger site clearing/one off jobbs etc.

So far its going well and I am building up a good client base and some commercial clients.

As its erly days

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Charging for sourcing plants

HI all,

I set up as a sole trader two years ago (one week before lockdown...) so am still very new to this.

Increasingly I'm being asked to source plants for clients - eg evergreen shrubs to fill 12m of border, plants for sunny 10m planter etc etc

This

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PPE

Hi everyone. 

For those of you that have employees. Do you provide them with the PPE required to do the job or do you get them to buy their own gear. 

Thanks in advance :)

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Is Social Media Marketing Worth The Effort?

A question for all of you landscapers and gardeners out there - and the suppliers too.  How much time to you spend on social  media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin etc) and do you think it benefits your business?  I'm a fan and find

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Stiga 955v.

Good morning, anyone  using (or used) one of these or similar stiga. On paper it seems to do it all, mulch, bag, side discharge, height adjustable handle, good size engine. But of course only using a mower tells you how good it really is (or not!).

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Masport wide cut mower

hi all just to ask does anyone have any experience in using a masport 800 widecut mower

it has a off set deck allowing to cut the edges of the lawn as a roller mower would do !!

qeustion is does it work as well as a roller mower would do ?

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Fixing badly laid turf

Morning everone,

Hoping you can all help.

Visited a new customer last week, in November they had landscapers in to re do half the garden. This was turfed on previously barren ground, heavy clay. Turf has taken in places, is full of gaps between turfs f

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Fortnightly to Monthly Maintenance

Just coming into my 3rd week of this years grass cutting & Maintenance & 2 or 3 of my customers have asked for Monthly visits rather than the usual fortnightly visits that they've been having over the years.

Now i understand people have budgets etc bu

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How To Get Rid of a Tree Stump

Removing a tree stump can be a bit of a task. So the team here at Stump eraser have made this handy guide for those of you looking to tackle the job yourself...

Read more…

Becoming VAT registered - invoices

Hi everyone, first time posting here so hopefully in the right place and not been asked before. We are looking at becoming VAT registered due to our income and we want to continue to grow. My question is, when we are VAT registered, do we really need

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Can't remove old turf

I've been doing a job today for a long term client today, I am re turfing the front and back lawn removing old turf and re leveling areas. I had hired a turf cutter for today and did the back lawn which went well I'll rotavate and level tomorrow . Bu

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Battery Mower thoughts?

Evening all

 

Anybody running a Self propelled cordless mower? & would have any thoughts on what they are like.

With fuel rising daily ( it will never drop back) & battery tech getting better & better i'm ready to make the leap

I'm very tempted to get on

Read more…

Countax decks

Morning all I have a countax with sweeping collection but want to take it off and mulch the cuttings. Does anyone know if you can do it simply by different blades or do you need a different deck? Thanks

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Tool insurance

I've been Doing this amazing job for 15 years and got all my insurances but never bothered with tool insurance. I'm buying a new £12k John deere x590 and I've got most Stihl kit in the kombi range and 8 or so battery tools and £1k of batteries.
My qu

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Mowing and maintenance schedule

Hi all , will be starting back mowing tomorrow (weather permitting) 

Just wondering how you all plan it..? 

 

Last year I did set lawns on set days ( so on a Tuesday I might do ten)  whereas this year I'm thinking of just squeezing as many as I can in a

Read more…

Scarifier/Lawn rake recommendations?

G'day all, hope you are all keeping safe from the storm! I have a customer (mowing and hedges normally) that requires their lawn scarifying. It isnt something I want to do professionally (I've done my time at this) and she has been let down by her La

Read more…

Conifer reduction and root removal advice

Good afternoon team.just been to look at a job of removing conifer hedging (<6 foot) ,unfortunately wanting roots out as well.low wall behind the conifers.just want directional advice,do I need to get hand winch and straps or are roots shallow enough

Read more…

Laying patio in half circle

Hi,

 

I've been asked by a client to create a patio in a half moon shape but he only wants to use standard Marshall 2x2 grey slab which is great, but how do I calculate the angle to know where to make my cuts for the radius?? Or do I just lay them as n

Read more…

16ft tripod ladder

Does anyone on here in the Staffordshire area have a set of the adjustable 16ft tripod ladders I could hire from them for a day or two? Got a big hedge to do but my 10ft just won't reach the top, even fully extended. I'd be happy to leave a cash depo

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THE POWER OF FUNGI

I've just stumbled upon this bite-sized video of a topic I last wrote about over on the Blog page. I have always tended to see if there is a natural remedy for an issue I'm having before going out to buy medication, but learning about the powers of p

Read more…

Lawnflite Pro 553HRS-PROHS

I'm looking at getting one of these.  I've heard mostly good about them, but would welcome others' experiences.  In particular, how do you find the forward speed?  We've used a lot of hayters in the past, and most others seem painfully slow.  Forward

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Any one interested

Hi All

A client of mine in Melbourne, Cambridgeshire has had her garden completely redesigned and is now looking for a landscaper to do the work . A lot of different paving, beds, a raised pond, turfing a lot of work to do. I have no part in this, I a

Read more…

Price of shrubs

When pricing for small projects of about 50 shrubs and using run-of-the mill 2 litre shrubs like berberis, hypericum etc. do you have a ball park figure per shrub?

I have found it harder to price recently with suppliers having increased their prices b

Read more…

Electric battery mowers

Hi all,

 

I'm at the start of my gardening - have been using householders own mowers etc but I'm now thinking about upgrading to a van and mower - probably an IZY.

 

Self propelled for sure but what do the sages of landscape juice reckon about the batter

Read more…

Garden Maintenance business for sale - South Wilts

Its time to start thinking about hanging up the boots - and having a gap year(s) myself - I've paid for 2 kids to have one, but never had one myself! Such things weren't a rite of passage in 1976 when I left school :(

The Honest Services Co Ltd starte

Read more…

Lawn 'treatment'

Hi all, HNY to you. My first job back this week after being away in the sun for a couple of weeks was a Laurel hedge hard prune for an occasional client. The clients aren't actually living in the property atm, but when I arrived on Tuesday the first

Read more…

Lawn treatment

Evening all. I have recently joined the Network and set up my new gardening business in July 2021. So far it's been very rewarding and I have been able to build a loyal customer base.

As I head I to 2022 I wanted to ask for some advice on lawn care tr

Read more…

Do Cornelian cherries taste good?

Hey Folks!
I have some Cornelian cherries in my garden. I need to ask that does they taste good or are the Cornelian cherry has some healthy nutritious properties. If so how it can be used.
Thank You!

Read more…

Lantra pole saw training for people with a chainsaw certificate.

I am trying to book the Lantra one day pole saw course including assessment during the training for people who have already completed the basic chainsaw training and assessment.

This is proving to be rather a challenge as the trainers need four people

Read more…

Grass Cutting Heights

I've been  watching youtube about mowers / grass cutting ( think I am having withdraw symptoms ) anyway they were on about the mower not cutting high enough at 50mm which seemed to me more than high enough for regular gardens, they want a 70mm cut. I

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Van Ply Floor Paint

My previous van had a Phenolic resin coated ply floor, which lasted very well, considering how damp it can get sometimes.

My new (used Transit Custom) has ply lining but the floor is the standard rubber one piece covering.

Im torn between a 12mm Phenol

Read more…

Acer trees

Morning all I'm looking at buying small Acer trees to grow on I already do rhododendron and Azalea but I'm having a job to find a supplier of small Acer's and wondered if anyone can point me in the right direction? I do quite a few Japanese gardens a

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New Rules For Road Users

A bunch of new rules have been added to the highway code and are law in a few days from now.

Hierarchy of road users Rule

H1 of The Highway Code establishes a hierarchy of road users which ensures that those road users who can do the greatest harm have

Read more…

grasslines.net - update

Hi everyone,

I managed to talk myself out of starting up the lawn mowing business after talking to some of you in person on here. I guess i was looking for a way out, which i was very successful in doing, however I have been talking to people about it

Read more…

Replacing a Strimmer For A One off Job , Recyling Old Machines

I was just on the verge of winding down for Xmas when i get an offer i can't refuse of an urgent  substantial heavy duty strimming job . 

I gave up heavy duty strimming but still do plenty of light grass trimming and have a couple of light cordless st

Read more…

Viburnum Davidii sending suckers

Asking for advice really. The above shrub sending suckers.the boarder is an established professional planned border.I'm new to this client.Without disturbing the planned border,how do you tackle the roots sprouting.no info about this in a few books I

Read more…

Tax Return: category for new tools purchased?

I am trying to do my first tax return and can't work out which category to input the total expenditure for all the new tools I bought when I started earlier this year.  

There is a category for:

- Goods (for resale or use) - I used for plants & compost

Read more…

The rise and very quick fall of grasslines.net

Hi Everyone,

Having given this much thought and looking at the business in more detail, and with the advice and conversations I have had, I have decided that although i like the idea of mowing lawns, its probably best sticking to my own lawn.

Logisitic

Read more…

Training courses for lawn care

I have been looking at training courses (online) for lawn care.  I came across a lawn mowing and turf care training course through Warwickshire College which gives you an ACS Certificate.

Im not sure what weight an ACS certificate holds from a profess

Read more…

Draining fuel end of season

Hi, do you guys run your machinery dry at the end of the season. I usually do but at the start of this season some of my machines wouldn't start. I was wondering if doing it forces all the crap into the carb?

Read more…

Looking to work with professional lawn care specialists

Hi Everyone,

I'm David and have decided to do a complete career change. I have owned my own businesses for over 20 years all in the IT/Software space and I have now decided that I need a change plus im totally bored?!.  I am only 48 yet for most of my

Read more…

Compacted raised bed

One of my clients wants to smarten up this bed. It has a retaining wall which is about a foot high and is natural stone. So the facing retaining wall could look quite nice once the moss and weeds have been cleaned up - I'm thinking a stiff brush woul

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Keeping Batteries warm over winter

Hello folks

Just wondering how people keep there batteries stored over the winter months?

Im using a hot food delivery type insulated bag to keep them in, What do you folks do?

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Bobcat walk behind zero turn rotary mowers for sale

Hi everyone,

I hope this ok to post

I am going to be putting the following mowers for sale on ebay soon and thought I would put them up on here first incase anyone is interested in them.

We have:

5 x Bobcat walk behind zero turn rotary mowers for sale @

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Adverse weather management

On this snowy wet morning and mixed weather forecast ahead it got me thinking How do others manage their work schedule during prolonged spells of adverse weather ? 

Do you still contact customers to point out the bad weather and re schedule or take it

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Any advice?

A client has asked us to buy a specimen shrub - he's fallen for one that is basically going to cost the best part of £1000 by the time we get it to Wiltshire. It is to replace one that has been killed by the previous gardeners pruning it in the winte

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It pays to shop around

It pays to shop around as we all know. So here is my story from the last three days.

The deck on my Stiga 740 pwx is older than the machine itself, being the one from the previous 740. So the deck, a Combi 100 EL has done over 1100 hours. 1100 hours o

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Any advice for growth?

shaky, but I endured and kept going. By the end of year one I had saved up enough to see me through the winter and pumped a fair bit back into the business. Major van upgrade, Tool upgrades, Professional Logo redesign etc. Year 2 has been tough, ever

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Battery hedge cutters.

Good morning, I was chatting to my local dealer recently about going battery powered for next year, he sells domestic ego battery kit but doesn't have the pro stuff in to look at although he can get them. Another dealer near me sells husqvarna but I'

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Scheduling work

Evening folks

How do people schedule their regular client work.

 

Pen / Paper Diary? Google Calendar?

 

Also do you let your clients know that you will be coming the following day the evening before or just turn up on the day.

 

Regards

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Tool Belts / Bags and Braces .

What is your tool carrier of choice ? 

I seem to be losing weight around the hips and the weight of a tool belt has become irritating when loaded , so thinking about wearing braces to stop having to adjust my trousers so often , what are the best brac

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Last lawn cuts

Morning all, next week will be my final lawn cuts aside from the customers who request one final cut, I've prob got about another months work then going to do some winter taxi driving, how does everyone else hold up through the rest of the year . Soo

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Are these rates correct?

I was just doing a search online about rates for mowing lawns. Below are the suggested rates from checkatrade. I'm not asking people for their rates. However, I would be grateful for any feedback. Based on the suggested average, I wouldn't be able to

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Large mower / rough cut

Hi all,

I have an area of land that I cut every 2 weeks.  It's quite rough work and is more of a field than anything else.  

I'm currently cutting it with a weibang virtue and using the side discharge setting.  

That was fine at first but now I am being

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Lollypop a Conifer?

Client I work for asked me to quote to skirt a leylandii hedge to give them more garden space particularly round a seating area.  They want to maintain the privacy the hedge gives them but want more space around the hedge.    Hedge is around 2.5m tal

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Moss and lichen on roofs.

Do you think moss and lichen on the roofs of houses and bungalows needs to be removed or should be left alone?

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Mechanical wheelbarrow

Evening everybody,

Has anyone any good or bad reviews of mechanical wheelbarrows either on tracks or preferably on wheels, like golf green type that will less damage grass too much. I do a hell of a lot of mulching in the Autumn winter months, and whe

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Big Lawn / Little Lawn / Frustrated Customer

One of my most valued customers is becoming increasingly frustrated with my services .

The work involves cutting Three tiny newly laid lawns which are perfectly manageable with my little cordless mower and always leaves a perfect finish , These lawns

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Winter work and keeping employees on through the off season

Hi all,

I run a small garden maintenance business and we concentrate on green work.  Lawns. Hedges,  border work.

 

We are very busy 9 monnths of the year but December, Jan And Feb are very quiet.  

I keep myself going with whatever I can but dont tend t

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Which Chipper?

Help! Im a gardener and have no intention of become a tree surgeon, I can't climb for a start! I often get asked to remove a hedge or make a big reduction etc. I'm at the point where I need a bigger and quicker chipper, I currently have an Eliet chip

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Euphorbia Sap ! !

I'm wondering how others deal with euphorbia/ spurge. 
Despite being gloved up and wearing eye protection, I still ended up inadvertently getting the sap in my eyes and have spent the last 3 days practically blind and bedridden. The sap is so high in

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Saltex 2021.

Good evening. I'm a salf employed sole trader, mainly doing grass/ hedges general tidy ups and fencing. Been at it some years now but over the last couple of years this site has been a big help and helped me earn more and taught me how to find better

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Garden Maintenance Risk assessment templates

 

Hi guys 

My name is dave and I was wondering if anyone has any garden Maintence templates that can be downloaded as heath and safty company did supply but here charges are to much and as making the buiness a bit smaller just need to do enough to keep

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Using customers mower

Also this week had another client ..I cut his and his neighbours grass weekly ...both the same size and I charge them £50 each ...one I use my own mower the other I use his and his petrol...he thinks I should do his cheaper as he's suppling the mower

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Tipper trailer

WOW, my heart just missed a few beats when I saw the price of a new Ifor Williams tipper.

I've borrowed a friends a few times but I know if I have my own I'll use it far more than I do his.

does anyone have any other manufacturer recommendations for su

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Anyone selling a 21" roller mower?

My trusty 21" Honda has gone to the great Lawn Mower heaven. It's splines have broken and is (if we can get the bits) cost lots to get going again.

Do any of you have a good spare roller mower that you want to sell? 

I suppose the other question is, if

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Apprentice

Thinking of apprentice for my business...

I wouldn't know where to start , but has anyone in here tried it? Not even sure if there's criteria  we match?

I do general soft gardening work, mainly lawn mowing, hedge cutting, weeding, pruning..

Thankyou for

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Etesia 46 plastic insert

Can anyone help ? My etesia pro 46 plastic black inserts for the grass box keep falling out, do they need to be in ? 

Steve 

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Travel radius

Hi everyone.

Thought it would be interesting to get some opinions on your working travel distance. For maintenance I will travel up to 15 miles from base but for one off jobs such as pruning (I do a lot of Wisteria and fruit tree work) I travel up to

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Work Trousers

Which work trousers do you favour for general gardening? I've always used Dickies (currently Grafter Duo) but they don't seem as hard wearing these days and they have reduced their range.

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Dog mess

Hi everyone. Hope you are all well and as busy as you want/need to be!

I've recently taken a new garden on for 4 hours a week (yes charging hourly but that's a debate for another day please!) which I really like and it's convenient for home etc.......

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Large Property Quotation

Hi all. Just wondering how people quote for properties that you'd need to be at for 1/2 day to a full day per week. How much do people take into consideration the lack of driving between jobs, the guaranteed income and that kind of thing?

Obviously we

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Waterproof/Gore Tex knee pads

Hi All, Hope everyone is well.

After some feedback/recommendations..

When I started out some years back I started off with a kneeler for weeding etc, but binned it. So I went with knee pads. Now I know that a lot of people don't get on with them, but h

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Growing veg

Hi. I am looking at a new customer and the job doesn't look too bad, 6 hours a week in the summer. Most of the beds are bark or pebbles eo not much weeding, good size lawn. Quite a lot of hedging but can get in some help with that. There are some rai

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Landscape Gardening Business Management Software

Hello everyone, I’m Marc from Custom Quoter and have been talking to Henry, Gary and the team at LJN, He mentioned that there are often threads discussing landscapers/landscaping software.
We wanted to create this discussion to have some direct conta

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Tools security

hi all. Can i have advice and wisdom about tool security. If the worst happened and the tools were robbed from you (van or lock up), how do guys prove ownership? Sharpie pen, drimel engrave, photos, tracker  register with local bobble heads? Any othe

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Advertising

Morning!

So what types of advertising do you find the best for good quality leads? I know word of mouth and recommendations are the best but what else do you finds works and is good value for money?

I have found local magazines, parish mags very good,

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Taking waste away.

Morning everyone hope everyone is doin good. I've been asked by a potential customer if I can take the waste away as they don't have a garden bin. This is something  generally I don't do. The waste is going to be from maintenance visits so majority o

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Stihl HLA85, Long reach trimmer.

I have been over the moon with this piece of kit.....until yesterday. It simply wouldnt go. I checked the grease as it hadn't been used for a while but that was fine. The gear moved when I manually rotated it. An hour later, it worked so I thought it

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Van Repair Day options ?

My van needs to go in for a mechanical repair and a small job doing but looking at Two days without it . 

If i take Two days off i lose earnings and it sets my schedule back 

If i hire a van for Two days its an extra expense and when added on to cost o

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Ride On Mowers

Hello all! 

Looking to invest in a ride on mower and wondered if anyone had experience in using and buying one? 

[Advertising back-links URLs removed by LJN Admin]

What do you think? 

Many thanks, 

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Renovating Arbors with a massive wisteria, roses, jasmine and other climbers on them

See the pics below - most of the horizontals on this arbor have or are failing. My idea is to make up a temporary support and effectively jack the heavy wisteria trunks off the exisiting rotten horizontals and slide in a nice new piece of wood - it w

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Starting out at this time of year

Hello everyone, 

On Tuesday I handed my notice in at my PAYE job. It felt amazing.

I've only been employed 10 months but it was enough to know it's not for me and I'm out. Prior to that I was self employed for 18 years; it's what I know and love. Howev

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Henchman tripod orchard ladder fitment to roofrack

How do!

I've had this ladder for some time now and I've been strapping it to my roof rack ( not very well ) and it's been 'ok' for now but it does work its way loose and move around a bit which isn't ideal.

Ive looked at ladder clamps which are fine fo

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Yorkshire fog

I started at a new property in April with a 600 m2 lawn full of moss and trying to restore to a croquet lawn. I've scarified and need to do again when the skies above allow. My issue at present is there is quite a bit of rogue Yorkshire fog and anoth

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LOL to customer Quote

September last year an elderly regular client asked for a price to fell a 30 foot birch tree. I quoted £300 to cut post leaf drop as I had someone wanting the silver logs and they mske use of the branches sprayed white for Christmas 

Months passed and

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Employing staff ... ?

After some advice for anyone that employes staff.

Been running 2 years, fuly booked and turning down big jobds daily because I havent got enough hours in the day! .. Im considering employing someone but it seems like a bit of a minefield so just have

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SafeContractor Membership

Hi,I don’t know how many members here are part of the SafeContractor scheme, but we are, principally as a result of it bring mandatory to continue working with a couple of our clients. Over the years the basic cost has gone up by about 100%. This yea

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MAXICROP ORIGINAL SEAWEED EXTRACT

Thinking of trying Maxicrop original seaweed on lawns. Recommended application for lawns & turf is 50ml in 9L water which covers approx 20m2, thats 4500lt of water a hectare ! so would take me about 3 knapsack loads to do 100 square metres. Are there

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School work experience

I'm a self-employed gardener working alone most of the time, and often with a lot of discussion with clients on each visit. A friend has asked if his son can come and do a few days work with me for his school work experience. I can't see a problem in

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Knee Pads!

Just thought I would ask the combined wisdom of this forum any ideas on best kneepads? I went through any amount of kneepads in the early years. Inserts just wrecked my trousers, others slipped down or uncomfortable. Have used the attached foam ones

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Sumach suckers

This is getting stupid.... for the first time I have not 1, not 2 but 3 lawns that are being invaded by Sumach suckers. I've tried Praxys - it was almost as if I had fed them, not tried to kill them. How do others deal with these suckers?

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