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Original poster

Is this gardener a CF or am I just a bit naive

25 replies

AMalTiempoBuenaCara · 21/08/2021 18:54

Bit of a boring thread, but just curious.

My neighbour's gardener did a bit of ad-hoc work for me, one job was to clear some garden waste and the other was to cut back a large shared hedge (with a different neighbour). It was very ad-hoc and I didn't get any other quotes or really chat about the jobs, just grateful to get the things done quickly.

Anyway on chatting to him mid-job he basically said he had no way of getting rid of garden waste, so he relies on either filling up the customers green bin (a paid-for garden waste service from the council) or bagging the garden waste up and either putting it in the general waste or filling up his own or his neighbour's green bin (he intimated he had some sort of agreement with them).

I suppose on reflection I found it a bit odd that he didn't have a more robust way of disposing of garden waste. Is it normal to just use whatever green bin you can lay your hands on?! I didn't object to mine being used really, but a green bin isn't obligatory round here so what would he do if I didn't have one?!

Anyway for various other reasons I wouldn't employ him again, but i am interested to know what normally happens for future reference!

OP posts:

JuneOsborne · 21/08/2021 18:55

Legally, they can only take waste away if they have a waste carriers licence.

Isitactuallyme · 21/08/2021 18:56

All gardeners I know use our bins if they are doing regular gardening type jobs. A huge removal / remodel I'd expect them to take away and that charge would be built into their fee.

girlmom21 · 21/08/2021 18:56

When we have a gardener (occasionally when we've been lazy and borders get overrun) they always use our green bin.

It's not an additional service we pay for though. We have green bin collections fortnight from (I think) Feb-Nov

Tirediam · 21/08/2021 18:56

I’d say a naive but then again I’ve never used a gardener so I don’t know the rules

PurBal · 21/08/2021 18:57

So he used your green bin to dispose of your garden waste? I don’t see how this is CF.

BastardMonkfish · 21/08/2021 18:58

If you didn't have a green bin he would have been well within his rights just to leave the waste in your garden for you to dispose of.

PumpkinKlNG · 21/08/2021 19:01

My gardener uses our bin, it would cost a lot more for me to pay him to take it away

Original poster

AMalTiempoBuenaCara · 21/08/2021 19:01

Ahh quick responses thanks.

@PurBal I didn't really object to that I guess, although he didn't discuss it (i was under the impression he was going to remove it as there was way more than the bin's worth).
I was surprised he used his neighbour's green bins and I would feel annoyed if a neighbour regularly asked to use my green bins that I had paid for for his business waste (essentially)

OP posts:

Original poster

AMalTiempoBuenaCara · 21/08/2021 19:06

@Tirediam I have never used a gardener before and not really planning on it being a regular thing! Just interested to know.

This is all good to know thanks. Sounds normal to use the customers green bin.

OP posts:

Chocs44 · 21/08/2021 19:08

When we get our hedges cut by a gardener he takes all the rubbish away but charges us for it! They have to pay a charge to use the council recycling centre.

Catlover77 · 21/08/2021 19:19

Perfectly normal to use your green bin

VeganCow · 21/08/2021 19:20

If he had taken it to the tip in his van, he would have had to pay for it. £30 a load here

borntobequiet · 21/08/2021 19:21

Licences are expensive and waste disposal is time consuming. What he’s doing is standard practice.

Jelly0naplate · 21/08/2021 19:28

Perfectly normal for him to use your garden waste for your garden.

We have a gardener every other week and we pay for a garden waste bin as we knew from the start he had no way of getting rid of garden waste. Our garden waste we pay to dispose of it.

IzzyGee · 21/08/2021 19:34

My work takes me into affluent suburbia where I see professional gardeners at work. You’d be surprised. One I know leaf blows all the leaves and hedge trimmings into the street and along far enough to be unobtrusive to THEIR client as they arrive home.

cstaff · 21/08/2021 19:34

I get my garden cleared out once a year and they always take it away. There is no way it could fit into my bin. I'm sure they charge dump costs.

Original poster

AMalTiempoBuenaCara · 21/08/2021 19:42

Thanks everyone.

I think maybe my expectations were just different. I have paid for waste removal services before(non garden waste) and they don't squish what they can into the general rubbish bin then take the rest. They just take it all.

I suppose I presumed it would be the same here. I should've asked though. And ultimately the job was done.

I will know for any future jobs to check what I am paying for.

OP posts:

Svalberg · 21/08/2021 19:44

I was offered the chance for the gardeners to take waste away when we had a thorough tidy of the garden - for £225

Viviennemary · 21/08/2021 19:53

A lot of councils charge quite a lot for gardeners to get rid of waste. So he would probably need to charge more to cover the cost. But that would be more weekly type gardening. If you pay for waste removal it should be removed.

Starjammer · 21/08/2021 19:54

Our gardener uses ours too. He said that he'd need a special licence to take it away and it would bump the prices up for everyone to factor in that and the extra time taken.

Starjammer · 21/08/2021 19:54

Actually it wasn't a licence, just a flat fee for every visit he made I think. Either way, it would have cost more money.

Simplelobsterhat · 21/08/2021 19:55

My dh is a gardener. He uses customers green bin, and if he can't fit it all in it is piled up neatly until bin emptied. Green Bins round here are free from council and he usually only does general maintenance, so creates no more waste than the customer would if doing the garden themselves. He works alone and doesn't want to get into the cost or administration of disposing of waste. He would be much more expensive if he did! I guess a big lanscaping job would be different and the customer would probably have to pay for a skip. He wouldn't use our neighbours though, or even ours usually, but if the neighbours genuinely don't mind what does it matter to you?

Reloxa · 21/08/2021 20:09

I don't have a green bin and had a one-off garden tidy up. The gardener asked several neighbours (that I don't know) to use their bins as there was about 3 bin fulls.

I felt like a massive CF, but he said he did it all the time. I was pretty surprised he didn't have a proper method of disposing of it.

TheCanyon · 21/08/2021 20:22

My dad's a gardener, he doesn't dispose of stuff either and why should he when most folks have garden waste bins. Doubt he would be paid extra to drive the 40 min round trip to the dump. We don't have council garden waste removal anymore either, so when dad cuts our hedge etc we have to pay for it to be removed.

hiredandsqueak · 21/08/2021 20:37

Our gardener uses my green bin, if there is more than a green bin of waste he brings his trailer and either burns or composts it at his allotment.

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