I do not have a gardener. However I have needed person for jobs in the past. I contacted local community college which has a horticulture degree program and was able to hire a student.

I don't have a gardener, but I do hire people for specific yardwork, planting trees/shrubs, pruning, sowing grass, spring clean-up, etc. I find these people by asking for referrals from well regarded garden centers and neighbors. When hiring people for tree removal I need to know they have insurance and a good, solid reputation for their work.

Thanks Localeater. That was one idea I had, to contact the local vocational center, they have a horticultural program. It's high schoolers, but that would be fine. I can also post on our community FB page, but like I mentioned, finding someone and finding someone good or trainable is another story. I struggled every summer with summer help at the arboretum where I worked. Some folks have the knack and some do not, and hard to figure out how to reach the ones with the knack. Often not a matter of training or education level either . . .

There is a fabulous estate in our neck of the woods, Filoli, I aked their head of gardens if they could rec someone. Through them I got a great outfit. They come to my house weekly and are fabulous.

I have only one acre, in an area bereft of rainfall, so there is not a ton to do. I have lots of roses and lavender, mature trees, little lawn and some raised beds for herbs and vegetables. Plus I have a particular quirk, I want nothing to do with leaf blowers. Also I do zero gardening myself.

Another thought is your cooperative extension. Ours has a master gardener listing. People looking for master gardener designation have to do certain number of projects.

I sometimes write a small note for temporary help at a local virtual "university black board"

I describe what I want done and

ask for a brief answer with their own gardening experience

still a lot of sorting neccessair, so recommendation after seeing the actual work should work best

I sort of do. The contractor I use for most of my landscape design installations has a large crew that has been with him for a number of years. Periodically (when asked), he will send a couple of them over for the day to do whatever I need doing :-) I only ask for the heavy or awkward stuff to be done - pruning larger plants, moving things, hauling and spreading mulch. And since this is done gratis - in return for the referrals I provide - I don't ask too often. These guys know their stuff and I have no issues leaving them alone to do it.

Just an FYI but the Master Gardener program is not operated the same way everywhere. In my state, MG's are not allowed to accept private jobs under the MG title and are only allowed to volunteer their services for public benefit....cleaning up parks or community gardens, etc., public plant clinics. And it should also be noted that the very short training program they undergo does not make them skilled gardeners!! All it is intended to do is provide the knowledge of what resources they can access to help them answer questions. Any gardening experience is already existent before they take the classes, if they have any at all. The program does not teach them to become gardeners.

There is an app called TaskRabbit that allows you to hire people for many home tasks including gardening. You can read there reviews online to see if they know gardens.

I'm going to have a large load of mulch delivered and am going to lay out two perhaps three large mulched beds/tree islands. I need some help ditching out the beds and then spreading the mulch. Also have to do some ladder pruning, need someone to hold the ladder and also have to spade out a bed by the roadside and transplant some perennials there (making a wildflower bed along the border road). If there's time, I need some big shrubs dug out and a few transplanted . . . None of this terribly skilled but could be made easier or more difficult depending on the quality of the help . . .

And it should also be noted that the very short training program they undergo does not make them skilled gardeners!! The program does not teach them to become gardeners.

Yup, yup, yup. I've called our cooperative extension for help answering questions after I couldn't find an answer on their website. Little did I know that all the MG was going to do was look up the same information on cooperative extension website...which I had just done.

I think I prefer an observant gardener who likes to experiment in their garden to any MG designation (at least around here).

I often joke abut needing a gardener but now this thread makes me wonder about hiring a horticultural student. You've inspired to check out our state horticultural society and see what educational programs they offer.

Word of mouth. In CT, the gardener and his staff have been with the property 25years, IIRC, the last 10 with us. At every house we have owned, we have gotten info on service providers from the PO. We usually stuck with them for continuity. Failing that, I always ask neighbors who they like.

Sort of, kind of. We have lawn service, and then, like MTN, we use the team who has worked on our yard on and off since the 80's. (They planted the soaring hemlocks in our backyard!) They were just here pruning and shaping everything and will do our fall clean . up as well.

For regular landscaping maintenance, I have a local landscaping company. For special projects requiring gardening expertise, I get recommendations from our local master gardener society and the university arboretum staff. I do very little physical gardening on my own other than random putzing around.

I AM the gardener lol! Well, actually, I'm down to one property now, but I used to care for up to 8 gardens.

I kind of fell into it. Met a woman at a weight watchers program, turned out she gardened and needed help, I offered but she insisted on paying me. Then her neighbor asked me to help, and then one of her friends across town. I'm dating myself here, lol, but then I hung a flyer in a few local supermarkets and got a few more customers, and then more word of mouth.

If I were to try to find help now, I think I would start with my local garden club. Most of them are older and probably need help themselves, lol, but I'd still pick their brains. I suppose I would try "hanging a flyer" virtually somewhere, but as mentioned above you have to be careful about gardening skills, if that is really important (sometimes one just wants a strong back and the ability to pick things up and put them down lol).

I did once hire a teen to help out. Had him do more "yard work" than gardening - raking leaves, lugging mulch, clearing areas, etc. He was a great kid but not really interested in gardening. There were days I had him washing my car and cleaning out the garage lol. He preferred that, actually, and it freed my up to garden so it was a win-win.

:)

Dee

I have a gardener, by word of mouth (as others above). They tend to like to work in the same neighborhoods. (Lawns and leaves are handled separately)

Is there a reputable garden center near you? The larger garden centers offer a lot of landscape services, from helping you design a flowerbed, and larger projects.

Take pictures so the landscapers will know what they'll be dealing with. You have to be prepared before you call.

Make a list in the order you want things done. Call the centers and ask if they have landscaping services, and if yes, either make an appt. to visit at the center, or have someone come out to take a look.

I do not have a regular gardener, though I do dream about it. However, when I was selling my last house and was overwhelmed with all of the projects I suddenly had to do inside (painting, minor remodeling, clearing out clutter, getting ready to move, etc). I had a great realtor and she had a gardener she recommended. He and his crew (family) came out and weeded my flower beds, trimmed shrubs, spread mulch, etc. They were fast and did a great job at a very reasonable price. If you know any realtors, they might have gardener recommendations.

I'm on a smaller city lot, and can manage the general upkeep myself. But I have used services depending upon the job. For tree trimming/removal I only use licensed, reputable businesses. A few weeks ago, I needed some basic bed clearing and edging, and it was difficult to find someone--I made several calls and only 2 responded. I went with one of them, a smaller landscape company that was family owned by brothers.

I found it helps to start calling early in the spring, before everyone else does, and get on their calendars. For my recent fall bedding/clearing, it was more difficult to find someone because everyone was already booked. I'm lucky to have found what I did because I wanted to get some fall planting done. Get on the phone and call, call, call, until someone answers, is my best advice.

No gardener here. Gardening is a love of mine and I'm particular. We do our own yard work, etc. However, we sometimes hire out certain jobs. Recently we had an excavator guy come in and take down a BIG tree for us (boohoo to cut a tree but it was sold to us as a dwarf and above the roof of our house! roots were a concern with our foundation.) He also removed several large shrubs, etc. and now we have a blank space. Our back yard is looks like a garden center with the plants stored back there until we plant. We had the landscaping professionally done many years ago and took pictures of the layout to follow. We were lucky, because the guy is a friend. Excellent job! My MIL has someone to do her pruning, weeding, put out mulch, etc. She also has someone who mows. Most of these she found word-of-mouth from neighbors or friends.

Our back yard is looks like a garden center with the plants stored back there until we plant.

Ha! So does mine, Tina Marie! I've got a rotation of nurseries that I've been visiting the past few weeks to check out selection and sales. We've had an unusually warm fall so far (I'm in zone 5b), but I know time is running out. A friend offered to help me dig holes and plant, but that is the part that I really enjoy. I'm also transplanting some poorly placed hydrangeas from the previous owner. Fall around here is always the last gardening "hurrah" before a long winter of hibernation.

Normally I do all my own work, as it is my profession, and I love it. But I inherited a property that had been poorly managed for over a decade and am trying to speed up the progress I am making. Don't even get me started on my ongoing project to remove the stone mulch bed around an oak tree in the middle of the yard. My Dad's solution to any lawn problem was to cover it up with stones, and if that didn't work, pour concrete on top of the stones! My husband has been working on rehabilitating our deck for weeks. Photos to follow some day soon.

Beginning to think I need to find a professional for the tree island beds, someone with a gas powered edger. Cutting it all by hand with a shovel will not be cost or time effective considering how big the beds are going to be . . . sigh.

Visiting a nursery next week, not sure how I am going to get any trees home that I buy--I haven't been able to convince either of the men in my life to get going on their truck dreams and I only have a Toyota Matrix. It has hauled some "interesting" loads though, over the years . . . I would buy my own truck if it wasn't for my husband telling me he intends to get one . . .

The nearest nursery of any substance, and even that one is small, is 50 miles away.

The inside of the cottage has just as many needs . . . working on the hot water heater right now. That's why progress is so slow, the "to do" list is so long!