What's your opinion on my gardener....?

[AxolotlLove]

So I have someone who comes irregularly to do some work in the garden. (It's large and overgrown, so I just need a bit of help managing it).

He mows at the front and then does other gardening work, but the last couple of times I've not really been around while he's here and I've been less than impressed with what he's done (ir at least ehat I can actually see).

He worked for 3 hours last week, and I was unfortunately out for the whole time. I came back and all I could really see was that the lawn had been cut.

I'm interested in other people's opinion on the conversation and where I should go from here. I can't really afford to just throw money around and I was really hoping he was a good, inexpensive gardener who would be able to assist. But I have a suspcion that he's been taking advantage.

I'd be interested in what others think 😊

FFS OP just pay the guy. It's been a week now. You messaged him 2 days after you should have paid him to say thank you in a passive aggressive way. I've been a house cleaner and never once did I have anybody not pay me on the same day.

If you thought he was taking the piss, personally I'd have paid on time and then mare a conscious effort to be in the next time and keep an eye in person discreetly. I suggest you cut your own grass in the rain and see how long it takes you.

I agree that your messages sounded condescending. You've said 'I don't trust you, so I'm going to watch every move next time!' I can spend hours in my garden and it looks as though nothing has been done!

PIL had a gardener taking the piss. Would only trim and do the bits of gardening she preferred, then would hide behind the trees and be on her phone most of the time.
Consider getting a camera. Even if you aren't watching the screen or playbacks, your next gardener will be aware you have the option to check.

I'll start by saying I'm not a gardener professionally or leisurely, so don't really have much input, but, if he is getting rid of weeds that are amongst your flowers, would you really see much of a difference?

Depending on the size of your lawn that needed mowing, and then the intricate extraction of weeds amongst flower beds, maybe he has served his time well?

If you aren't happy with his work, get rid, but please do bloody pay him for the job he's done.

My partner is self-employed, and I've had to chase invoices, even starting small claims through court (you don't need to worry about that in this situation), but it is very stressful when you are owed money for work completed.

@AxolotlLove I've had some hit and miss with gardeners. I only recently started having a garden and it's been a learning process
the rhs sets a recommended hourly rate for accredited gardeners and it's around 25/hr so you were paying well below market rage.

I reccommend visiting the rhs website to find your local accredited gardeners. and whoever you employ, you can't be sending msgs like that.

How much time do you expect him to have after cutting a large overgrown lawn for weeding?! And what, are you going to pay him even less than £45 if he only cut the grass?! 'Let's fight this fight together' Jesus wept.

My partner is self-employed, and I've had to chase invoices, even starting small claims through court (you don't need to worry about that in this situation), but it is very stressful when you are owed money for work completed.

Actually I'll withdraw this. I said you don't need to worry thinking I wouldn't go to court for £45.00, however, if he is tenacious enough, and has evidence to suggest you agreed to the work, he might be happy to pay the £35.00 fee to take you to court because that will get added to his claim if you don't respond or he wins.

Give him his money and stop acting as if he’s your mate. Your messages are very strange!

Agree you sound rude . Gardeners who know what they’re doing g charge £25 an hour as others have said. Pay him and find someone else who is qualified and pay them properly.

I was your gardener I would block you as soon as I'd received payment I think - your messages are awful.

Agreed. Blimey.

I agree with the majority of advice you've been given and pay the gardener! He's done 3 hours work for £45 which is cheap. At this time of year weeds grow quickly and are hard to keep on top of. I've a gardener who I pay £50 per week and that's only for cutting grass, it's a lot of grass but he's not here for 3 hours maybe 1/1.5 hours tops. If I ask him to weed, cut back branches etc I pay extra. Also to echo what others have said your style of messaging the gardener is very odd and quite controlling, saying you'll work alongside him - just do the garden yourself? If I was the gardener, after you paid I wouldn't come back.

Your messages are not ok. Pay the £45 which is extremely cheap and say you've decided not to rebook.

Your attitude/tone in the messages is really not on.

You need to give specific instructions on your priorities for the 3 hrs
arent you able to mow the lawn? Then you could get him weeding
3hrs is not a lot

You want to work alongside him so you can see how he manages his time? 🙈

I think you'll be lucky if he comes back.

I'd have tried to be in next time he's there to see what he was doing.

But ultimately if your not happy find someone else. He's self employed and probably not up for being babysat. Not that you should have to either.

Oh gosh I cringed reading those messages.

If you arent satisfied with his work then fine, but u need to pay him and move on.

Totally agree. Pay the man and don't have him back. Those messages you've sent him are dreadful and really rude...... I'm amazed you can't see it.

He has repeatedly asked you to pay him and you have repeatedly ignored his requests. It is OK to not be happy with the work he did, don't have him back in that case. But it's categorically not ok to withhold payment from him. Your messages are so condescending and basically saying "I think you're a liar so I'll watch your every move next time." I can't believe you seriously said "let's fight this fight together". I wouldn't come back if I were him.

I can’t believe you still haven’t paid him after those messages! 😳😳

I cannot believe you sent those messages. I am embarrassed for you

He's not a gardener clearly. He's a handyman who will do lawns and hedges and hacking jobs on overgrown areas, and a reasonable one at that ! For a proper gardener who knows what they're doing and about plants etc you'd be paying a lot more per hour.

Hi all, thanks for the messages.

It's really interesting to see how different meanings and interpretations are put on things when they're read. It's really hard to frame a message which says "What did you do for 3 hours as i cant tell!". So easy to frame that offesively! Glad some of you saw a chatty tone (even if you didn't like it!).

He's been a few times before and it's the beds are overgrown, not the lawn. The lawn would take (at the most) about 45 mins to (but I honestly think I'm exaggerating there). I only mentioned the garden was large because if I read on here "someone did 3 hours of gardening and I couldn't tell" I'd wonder what on earth was going on. As the beds are overgrown if you spend any time on them, there's an instant difference.

I knew he was very cheap and likely not to be that great when we first walked around the garden together and we discussed what the options were. He's been 5 times now and I really can't see any difference (other than the fact that the lawn has been cut....). Whilst £15 an hour is cheap, if he's only doing an hour or so of work, he's quite expensive....

And not that it makes any difference to anything, yes English is his first language.

Thanks all for the alternative perspectives.

I had a gardener for the first time this year. He wanted £30 to strim the lawn every other week. He failed to turn up after the first few weeks. So I found another gardener and, wow, the difference! He charges £30 ph and does an incredible job.

Sounds like you have someone who mows lawns for a bit of pocket money.

So after typing that long explanation...

Have you actually paid him?

He had to ask you repeatedly to pay him and rather than doing just that you kept sending PA messages to him. If I were him, after your offer of spending 3 hours with him, I would think you were batshit crazy and run for the hills.

Our (very good) gardener is £30/h so you have an incredibly good deal there.
1 man dealing with an overgrown garden won't make much of a visible dent in 3 hours.
You really need to get on top of it yourself if you're such a difficult client.
Pay the man for goodness sake and don't embarrass yourself any further.
If I were him, I wouldn't come back to work for you, even if I was to increase the hourly rate.

This. I feel awkward for you OP reading those messages.