wrote in message
oups.com...
Draven wrote:
I'm in the West (Bristol) and would like to expand the question.
How much would a LARGE company expect to pay a gardening contractor to
maintain the company site?

Assuming the large company expects the gardener to carry professional
indemnity insurance, and to be able to maintain a service in the envet
of injury or illness, I'd say much the same as any other tradesman: 25
to 35 quid an hour.

For a more flexible approach, with no fixed dates of attendance and no
defined performance standards, perhaps it would be possible to get it
done for under 20.

But a large site will generate a lot of disposal problems which may
have to be negotiated separately.

Thanks.
So at £12 per hour I'm a bargain.
That's what I needed to know.

I don't need indemnity insurance as I'm already employed by the company and
fully covered. (I checked). ;O)

On 12/9/05 11:21, in article
, "Draven"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
snip

I rather thought Draven to be the gardening contractor who is wondering
what
he should be charging.

Sacha,
You're dead right.
I have the gardening contract for a Wessex Water site.
I get paid one lump sum for the contract and any work, not covered by the
contract, I can either charge by the hourly rate or a whole sum for the job
in hand.
I am not a gardening professional (in fact I'm a Scientist) but have been
gardening for 25 years.
The previous gardening contractors became more and more lapse in the upkeep
of the site, which is why I was offered the contract.

I recently had to reduce the height of a Laurel hedge, on health and safety
grounds, and opted for £12 per hour. Which, according to your replies, is
about right.
The boss was well pleased.


So nice to be right and how kind of you to tell me so! ;-)
But that's a pretty shiny badge on your professional gardening CV so good
for you. You will be able to up your rates with justification as time wears
on. If you would like to, please do tell us more because this sounds of
interest to others here, don't you think. Have you retired completely from
your earlier and mainstream science career? Is the contract gardening a
retirement venture or a sideline?
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
On 12/9/05 11:21, in article
, "Draven"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
snip

I rather thought Draven to be the gardening contractor who is wondering
what
he should be charging.

Sacha,
You're dead right.
I have the gardening contract for a Wessex Water site.
I get paid one lump sum for the contract and any work, not covered by the
contract, I can either charge by the hourly rate or a whole sum for the
job
in hand.
I am not a gardening professional (in fact I'm a Scientist) but have been
gardening for 25 years.
The previous gardening contractors became more and more lapse in the
upkeep
of the site, which is why I was offered the contract.

I recently had to reduce the height of a Laurel hedge, on health and
safety
grounds, and opted for £12 per hour. Which, according to your replies, is
about right.
The boss was well pleased.


So nice to be right and how kind of you to tell me so! ;-)
But that's a pretty shiny badge on your professional gardening CV so good
for you. You will be able to up your rates with justification as time
wears
on. If you would like to, please do tell us more because this sounds of
interest to others here, don't you think. Have you retired completely
from
your earlier and mainstream science career? Is the contract gardening a
retirement venture or a sideline?
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

Sacha,
I'm 36 years old, a scientist for Wessex Water and have been gardening since
I was 11 yrs.
For the last couple of years my Boss has approached me to do some planting
in particular areas of the site.
Quite basically a quote was obtained from the gardener contractors and then
I was asked how much could you do it for?
The first thing I did was a bare patch of land as you drove into the site.
The gardener contractors (Gardiners) quoted something of the region of £600
and were going to plant evergreen shrubs (as always). I did it at no cost to
myself and only charged for the plants that I had to buy. Some of the plants
were my own that I grew form cuttings. It wasn't easy as the land was just
builders clay and rubble. But I went ahead and now there is a bank of
Fuchsias that the Director said "Is fantastic". Total cost £40.
Next I was asked if I could take charge of the canteen area, it's a patio
area where we sit and eat (weather permitting).
More fuchsias, bedding plants (this year marigolds), small conifers and a
Honeysuckle Hallina (to cover up a fence that separates the site and some
waste land) was planted. All looking great.
Then the Boss came to me and asked me if I could plant up a long strip at
the entrance of the building. This I did with gazanias and rudbeckias.

As all this was going on the supervisor of the gardener contractors left. It
was then that everything went wrong. Nothing was cut back, weeds everywhere
etc.

One day I was sitting with the boss on the patio (weeds all in it) and the
boss said "you couldn't get some weedkiller and spray the weeds? It was then
that I pointed out that it was the gardener contractors duties to do that as
that was what they were paid for.
He then remarked that they were useless and that I would do a better job
than them.
And that was the seed sown.
The site is too big for me on my own so I asked my best mate (also working
there) if he would like half the contract to cut the lawns (he's a lawn
freak).
It was very stressful at that time. I lay awake at night wondering if I was
taking on more than I could handle.
The final straw was when the gardener contractors came to work and said
"from now on we'll only be coming in once a fortnight!"
The person in charge of Wessex sites came down and told us that they were
doing this in some of the other Wessex sites and they were going to lose the
contracts there too.

The rest is history. My mate and myself said we'd do it. We put in a quote
£1300 less than the current contractors. We negotiated a lump sum (to buy
all the petrol gear) and then a monthly payment from then on. And off we
went.
It was hard at first with lots to do but now everything is getting there. We
spend around 4 hours a week, each, on site.
We told the boss that we wanted compost bins to put suitable waste in. We
now have 6 compost bins made out of pallets that we put clippings and weeds
in. This was such a revelation that we are going to appear in the Wessex
Water magazine, called Source, on how we are trying to be more
environmentally aware.

We recently went for a walk into the near by sewage works, where Gardiners
still have the contract, the place is a total state. Weeds everywhere.
So that's the next plan, to try to get that contract.

If we were more sure of ourselves we could have approached the other sites,
that Gardiners had lost the contract for (I think there was around 6 in
all), and done those too.

On 13/9/05 14:22, in article ,
"Draven" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
snip
Is the contract gardening a
retirement venture or a sideline?
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

Sacha,
I'm 36 years old, a scientist for Wessex Water and have been gardening since
I was 11 yrs.
For the last couple of years my Boss has approached me to do some planting
in particular areas of the site.
Quite basically a quote was obtained from the gardener contractors and then
I was asked how much could you do it for?
snip of amazing story
If we were more sure of ourselves we could have approached the other sites,
that Gardiners had lost the contract for (I think there was around 6 in
all), and done those too.

All I can say is what a truly wonderful outcome and that you deserve to
succeed and make yourself a lot of money out of this. Who ever said the
entrepreneurial spirit was dead?! We have a friend who was part-time
employed by SW Water to promote the planting of drought-tolerant plants, in
order to encourage water conservation. Next step a gravel garden in Beth
Chatto mode, perhaps? ;-) I wish you every possible bit of good luck - you
couldn't possible deserve it more.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)