What should we expect from our gardener?

Question

We recently moved into a house in northern California and are paying a gardener $80/month to come every other and week and perform "maintenance" of our landscape. We expect him to mow the front and back lawn (~1000 sq/ft of total lawn), edge, weed, trim bushes/flowers, and any other basic upkeep. However it seems like he only mows the lawn, edges, and pulls "some" weeds. When we hired him 2 months ago we had a few dead patches of grass -- those patches are still there. After he leaves (he always seems to come when I'm not there) I notice there are still weeds in the grass and around the edges by the concrete. He also doesn't seem to touch our bushes/flowers. Are we expecting too much for what we're paying him? Thanks!

Answer 1

$80 a month?  For 2 visits?  In California?

You're getting a bargain, my friend.  Try and get a 16 year old kid for that price.

Answer 2

how often does he come a month? that's to be considered  and i'd expect all weeds to be pulled and for him to know the difference between weeds and flowering young plants  i've had gardeners pull up my plants before thinking ,i guess, that they were weeds! duhhhhh haha

Answer 3

That sound the same as my sisters experience in Concord.  She would leave notes in his pay envelope and sometimes he would take care of it.  She tried withholding pay but was afraid of losing him.  I think she was paying 60 for a very small yard.

Answer 4

I've been in the business for 20 years. I'm not sure about California, but here in NJ the price you are paying will normally only be a "lawn maintenance" price.

You really need to get in touch with this person & figure out exactly what you want him to do, and make sure he understands the same. Even if he is just providing "lawn service", if the job is not up to your standard, he needs to be told.

To give you a starting point, here's how I approach a new customer with what services I provide -

"Weekly or Bi-weekly Lawn Maintenance"

Mow lawn, trim (string-trimmer) lawn around flower beds & house, edge all sidewalks, blow off debris.

Price $XX per cut, billed monthly

All other services billed separately

"Full Lawn Maintenance"

Weekly or Bi-weekly - Mow lawn, trim (string-trimmer) lawn around flower beds & house, edge all sidewalks, blow off debris.

Apply proper seasonal fertilizer 4x per year

Reseed bare spots as needed

De-thatch and plug aerate lawn 1x per year

Price $XX per month, billed monthly

All other services billed separately

"Landscape Maintenance"

Weekly or Bi-weekly - Mow lawn, trim (string-trimmer) lawn around flower beds & house, edge all sidewalks, blow off debris.

Apply proper seasonal fertilizer 4x per year

Reseed bare spots as needed

De-thatch and plug aerate lawn 1x per year

Refill mulch beds 1x per year (spring)

Trim existing shrubs 1x per year (spring or fall)

Weed/spray mulch beds as needed

Weed/spray sidewalks/patios as needed

Dead-head perennials/annuals as needed

Price $XX per month, billed monthly

All other services billed separately

No tree trimming

Hope that helps - the key to this is communicating & getting everybody on the same page.

Answer 5

$80 for all that??  I'm on the east coast and was paying mine $50 a week just to mow and edge.  All other services were extra.