Beginner Gardener?

Question

Hi, I would like some advice. In the last 5 months I have discovered the joys of gardening. I seem to have learnt quite a lot in a short time.

My question is this, I am looking to earn a few extra quid and am seriously considering offering my services to cut lawns, however I was wondering what other gardening services I could offer, beraing in mind I am a hard worker but know little about plants etc.

Advice on what tools I would require, best forms of advertising services I could offer and what prices to charge.

I am based in South Wales, UK. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Put out flyer's and adverts in your local shops. Just state what you can do.

All the best.

Answer 2

I agree with all the other answers in addition don't say you can do something if you can't be honest about your limitations transport is the biggest need and somewhere safe to store your machinery as vehicles can get broken into, this time of year lots of work winter nothing, good luck

Answer 3

put an advert in the local paper to get business

Answer 4

Couldn't tell you about prices over there.

Tools, depending on what you plan to undertake.

Lawn:

Mower, blower, rake, weed eater and string. maybe a trowel or spade. Buckets or bags for debris. Truck and a trailer are great. A sprayer for weeds. and Roundup to kill the weeds. A spreader for fertilizers and granular herbicides gas cans for the mower and another for the 2 cycle engines (blowers, weed eaters.)

Word of mouth is your best advertisement. But pass out fliers to help you get started.

Answer 5

The ONLY way to do it is to get training and qualifications first. It is still hard enough even then to run a business and earn a good wage. Far too often i have to 'make good' the bodge ups that untrained 'handymen' make. Its very easy to kill plants, that can be very expensive, if you don't how know it should be pruned. Classic examples are the cherry trees that get killed every winter by idiots claiming to be tree surgeons. Back to school first. Please.

Answer 6

good luck to you! i am in the same position, its something i have found and thoroughly enjoy, i have tried my best to get into this kind of work but its soooo difficult if you have no experience, and college is out of the question as i need a monthly income for the mortgage!!!! plus trainee money is far not enough.

i think you have the right idea, practice makes perfect, the internet is your best friend, read up all you can on lawn maintenance, hedge strimming etc...

m opinion is you need the basics but good quality stuff like a petrol mower, strimmer etc so ideally a couple of grand to start out with.

good luck!

Answer 7

you could start off with cutting lawns, trimming hedges( big shears) and generally tidying up of plants(taking away dead leaves/weeds etc). if they wanted to plant some more but dont have time you could offer to do it, which basically just means poppin down to homebase or wyevale( im from s.wales :P) and getting the type of plant/flowers and soil/woodbark that they want.

if you dont know where to start, do you know any elderly people in your street with overgrown gardens? you could offer to tidy it up for them. they may not give you much money in return but word of mouth is more important if you a good hard worker. you could also make a5 flyers on ur pc offering your services eg any kind of garden dilemma, im ur man. list type of things you can do.  and post them through letterboxes

hope this helps

how old are you btw? :p