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The Landscape Juice Network (LJN)
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LJN is an open association of individuals and companies involved in landscaping, garden maintenance, horticulture and garden design.
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https://youtu.be/G3gaU9YK4kM
In this video, I will be…
As Blue Monday is fast approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to give a small reminder to our community here on Landscape Juice to remember to tell people about your worries and if you’re having negative thoughts. Talking about emotions…
Britmow weren’t aware how much of an impact attending a trade show would have on their future endeavours. In the run up to their 50th anniversary, they were exploring ideas of how to celebrate. It’s only when they met Kate Cooney from…
“Gardening programmes tend to be very ‘traditional’ white middle-class in their attitude towards gardening”, Julia Sargeant said in an interview after she won gold at Chelsea Flower Show in 2016. She was the first black gardener to design…
A carefully-planned turf nutrition and treatment programme utilising three key Sherriff Amenity products has produced a sustained rise in the health, condition and playing standard of greens at the Milford Golf Club in Surrey.
The programme…
Open forum activity
>> Buy one nowOff to do that RIGHT NOW!
Thanks"
It is also over £100 cheaper than mine was all those years ago. A genuine bargain.
Buy one now."
I could import from USA ... but I want one "tomorrow" - I'm well past retirement age and have found manhandling…"
Can't seem to find the Easy Lift - their website lists 3 dealers in EU, one dead links and for the other two I can't find the product on their website. Doesn't bode well ... and seems that Henchman have given…"
No doubt you will have seen my previous contributions extolling the virtues of the Easy Lift Harness. I’ve had mine for many years now [10 to 15 years maybe]. Quite simply it is a life changing device. Why every professional Gardener does…"
Last year 3hrs @95 for new customers, they said that was very reasonable this is Ryedale, North Yorks
Have charged…"
it was bloody slugs!!!! "
As others have said price per job and hourly rate in your head. You have to bear in mind equipment loading, travelling and equipment servicing which clients don't see.
£25 is not unreasonable."
Driveway weedkiller recommendations
Hi all, does anyone have advice (product recommendations) on how to keep large parking areas (gravel and or block paving areas) free of weeds without spending a small fortune on 'path clear' and suchlike?Thank you in advance
Read more…Hedge trimmer harness
I would like advice on a harness please.Looking at past threads the Easy Lift seemed to be the favourite. Henchman used to sell it (Google still links to the Henchman page, but there isn't anything there any more)I can't find any other UK…
Read more…Gadgets that were surprisingly useful: catcher on hedge trimmer
Impulse buys/ gadgets that turn out to be useful!Bought a Stihl catcher that is easy to put on/ remove. It just slides on and off. Helps when doing tops of hedges to bring down debris. Would be perfect if longer.
Read more…Please help , what is eating my lily’s!!!??
I've sprayed them and replaced them and these have the same trouble!!??
Read more…
Comments
As an aside, you mentioned signatures in a previous reply to the post How are you finding the network?
I would encourage all members to link out directly from the post where you can.
For example, you mention your company name - The Little Town Garden Company - I would link directly from here and you always have the back up of your profile that will still send a potential client to your main site in an indirect way.
My situation is that I have a cluster of long-term clients which will see me through a full working week quite comfortably. To all intents & purposes, these clients have effectively been 'taken off the market' to landscapers entering the maintenance market, as long as I do a good job and my clients are happy with the work I am doing - landscapers and new maintenance businesses will be competing for new contracts but as long as I can keep my clients, I'm at no net loss. Having had the experience of marketing myself to the type of client I want to work with, my business isn't really in any worse a position and when I look at my list of clients, none of them are 'new-build' gardens anyway. This does of course have an impact on my plans to grow the business and perhaps take on staff but I would need to do some proper planning for that and wouldn't be looking to expand until I get another couple of gardens under my belt anyway. The implications for new maintenance businesses however may be a little different.
I do think there is a misconception in the industry which has been led by television programmes like Ground Force and their ilk. For the most part, people worth dealing with don't want the whole garden makeover thing. They are happy to have someone who knows about plants to come in and take care of their garden, knowing when to prune, feed, spray and what have you. They also need someone who has a bit of an eye for planting so that when it comes to tweaking borders here and there, they don't end up looking like something in a Salvador Dali exhibition. Maybe a step back from the UKTV Gardens Channel is needed...
As for the impression that landscapers don't 'do' maintenance because it's beneath them, I've never come across this. If anything there's a snobbery in the other direction with gardeners saying 'I don't do hard landscaping (I myself must confess to having said this and the truth is that I don't do hard landscaping).
The main reason I went into maintenance was that (specifically in my geographical area) there were designers on the one hand and landscapers on the other with little inbetween - the designers would come in and create a new garden, the landscapers would do all the paving, fencing and construction and there was me left to fill the gap between the two and look after the plants. I've never even had an enquiry on a new garden so that sort-of blows my idea of market-placing out of the water doesn't it?
What I can say from all this is that there is a market out there for 'old-fashioned gardeners' and that if you position yourself well, it can be fairly lucrative. When you get a good client, keep hold of them. When you get a bad client, do your best to coerce them into being a good client. If that doesn't work, let them go.
I was extremely concerned that there were many good blogs out there and I would not be able to compete. Indeed, after eight months I was still getting just thirty five visits a day.
As my writing style improved and my confidence grew, I got into the groove and the traffic rose week on week.
I could not get the thought out of my head that I had to try and compete with other bloggers until one day, Craig said to me; forget everyone else. Do your own thing and keep focussing on what you do and know best because ultimately, if your good enough, the readers will come.
I agree with Andy on the point of saturation if all landscapers decide to take up maintenance. However, I would say that because of the lack of horticultural training at colleges, there is not the plant knowledge available to sell their labour as a maintenance man apart from mowing and blowing (of course that is not true in every case).
The good gardeners will always rise to the top and I am certain never have a problem finding work.