PRO

The woes of success!

Hey all I am hoping you are all as flat out as we are now that summer is finally here! After three years of keeping small I have decided to expand my business. I have taken on a gardener who I feel is a good guy and has good knowledge although no certified horticultural training. He has taken over my garden maintenance round for me so I can concentrate on getting bigger projects. Unfortunately one of my customers has already moaned after his first visit. I'm wondering if I've made a mistake or do I accept the fact that I will lose a few when handing them over to new employees. I was also wondering if any of you have any tips on how best to expand and how to find the very best staff you can. Thanks all!
Votes: 0
E-mail me when people leave their comments –

Comments

  • What exactly was the complaint? Has he spent time (i.e. a few weeks) working with you before being left on his own? I would suggest it's a big risk to pass the entire round over to someone else like that without adequate training. Experience of his own does not really matter if he doesn't know how YOU work and what your clients expect of the service.

    Also, make sure he is fully booked otherwise you MIGHT find him adding a job or two of his own onto the end of the day for some extra cash.

This reply was deleted.

You need to be a member of Landscape Juice Network to add comments!

Join Landscape Juice Network

Open forum activity

Brian's Garden Maintenance replied to Brian's Garden Maintenance's discussion Revive a lawn
"Thanks for that, Peter that a great help."
8 hours ago
Billybop replied to clive bates's discussion Privet hedges dieing
"i quite like photinia, quick to get to a good size, yes not so dense but it depends on the customer's requirements, to me its like the difference between solid wood fence and a trellis with plants on, still marks the boundary but not as…"
9 hours ago
John F replied to clive bates's discussion Privet hedges dieing
"Is this an isolated stretch of privet Clive or all the privet in general ? 
Worrying if it's all the local privet , I know of flourishing privet over 70 years old .
Do you know when the affected privet was last pruned , I am thinking is it stressed…"
15 hours ago
Ian Harvey replied to clive bates's discussion Privet hedges dieing
"I would agree with Peter's suggestion of Grisilinia. I have some in a mixed shrub hedge, and it makes an excellent hedge. It's quite fast growing, but upright in growth as well, meaning that it keeps its shape well without too much side shoots…"
19 hours ago
Peter sellers replied to clive bates's discussion Privet hedges dieing
"Suspect Honey Fungus its highly susceptible and before retirement a few months ago we were seeing a lot of it, whether the weather has suited it and hence the increase?
As to replacement I would not use Photinia it has a rather open habit and does…"
21 hours ago
clive bates posted a discussion
Hi Has anyone got the same problem we have in our area in Warwickshire, the privet hedges atleast 40years old or more are dieing, I appreciate the dry weather hasn't helped but this looks like the same as what's destroying the box hedging.And any…
yesterday
Jake replied to William Frost's discussion Paving pushing up because of the hot and super dry weather
"Happened this year on a patio I installed 4 years ago. Lifted two porcelain slabs 10mm but were still stuck solid to mortar and the mot stone base. The base was 200mm and rolled with a sit on bomag roller with Terram membrane underneath the mot.…"
yesterday
Jack Wright updated their profile
yesterday
Landscape Juice replied to Peter sellers's discussion Help change email on here
"Hi Peter,
Let me have a look into this.
Craig"
yesterday
Peter sellers posted a discussion
Trying to change my email on here, followed instructions and received an email from LJN asking me to confirm changes by clicking on link within the email ,but there is no link!!  Why make it so difficult?  LJN is not exactly a high risk site , in…
yesterday
Peter sellers replied to Brian's Garden Maintenance's discussion Revive a lawn
"Liquid fert, anything will do miracle gro etc. Liquid iron will help it green up and get some granular fert on it when rain is forecast or water it in."
yesterday
Intelligent Landscapes updated their profile
Monday
Juliet Roper and The Stonemart Ltd are now friends
Monday
Billybop replied to William Frost's discussion Paving pushing up because of the hot and super dry weather
"A good idea to have a "Force Majeure" clause in your contract for such work. Just as nobody would expect a patio to withstand an earth quake of significant magnitude, nor a sink hole opening up beneath it, less exciting than such unexpected events,…"
Sunday
John F replied to Graham Mitchell's discussion Gardening & Landscaping Recruitment
"Initially I started gardening after being made redundant from a trade where decent take home pay would depend on lots of overtime but the bottom dropped out due to cheap imports . 
I started with a push bike , a pair of vintage rolcut secateurs and…"
Sunday
Brian's Garden Maintenance posted a discussion
Hi AllI would like some advice on the best way to revive a lawn after this hot weather we've had, please.I look forward to hearing from you
Saturday
More…

Privet hedges dieing

Hi Has anyone got the same problem we have in our area in Warwickshire, the privet hedges atleast 40years old or more are dieing, I appreciate the dry weather hasn't helped but this looks like the same as what's destroying the box hedging.And any…

Read more…
4 Replies · Reply by Billybop 9 hours ago
Views: 78