How to stop gardening service

[Gardening11]

I know it’s not really an issue but I get so tense around these things. A neighbour 5 doors down recommended their gardener. I’m so stressed with doing everything as DH does nothing so I happily contacted her. It’s £37 an hour and she came last week for 2 hours. She did a great job and was a lovely enough person but handing over £74 was a little much but I just assumed all gardeners are around this price.

One of my other neighbours I was talking to today said that’s really expensive and they use one for much less and looking at my garden they said she hasn’t done a good job as vines are over hanging which could have been cut etc. I’m not an expert so just assumed she did a great job. Their gardener charges £25 an hour.

what would you do? The lady is going to contact me when she next in the area to book an appointment. What do I say? I feel really anxious about telling her I no longer want to use. I’ll be saving for much money by using the cheaper gardener who by the sounds of it will actually do a better job.

Just say I'm so sorry but we aren't able to work with you any more. You don't need to explain why.

Be polite but just say its too expensive. Thanks for the help,?

If she's contacting you when in the area then just say, no thank you, I will get in touch if I need you again.

Just send her a text, you don't owe her anything

Thanks both but I knew the price before I used her so I feel really bad using that excuse. I’m not confident enough to just say I won’t be using again without a reason

She's only done one visit - I'd just say thanks, but you've had a think and decided you'd rather not continue with her. It's not rude after one visit, and you don't need to give any reason.

It does depend where you are in the country, but £37 is quite a bit. I'm a gardener and I know people who do charge that and keep a good customer base, but I don't think anyone would think you were a cheapskate for trying out a different option.

Perfect response

On a side note is £37 an hour a lot for gardening? Just mowing, weeds etc. normal stuff

No need to feel anxious. Just wait until she contacts you and say thank you for a lovely job last time and I don't need any further help with the garden.

Should I just use the cheaper gardener first and see if he is actually better then cancel on her when she calls? She was very punctual and kept me informed of timings etc. I know in the past in previous home I gave up on tradespeople as they never turned up

Depends where you are in the country. I would say it ranges, realistically, from about £20 per hour to £40-45. £20 is really too low, and I think most people charging upwards of £40 are not doing your mowing as their main job (mowing on its own is often less).

Some people will only do a certain number of hours, as well - eg., someone might charge you £37 if you're wanting under half a day but charge you less if you gave them a decent chunk of hours. Some people just won't do small time slots, too.

I would!

Our gardeners are £35 an hour, and worth every penny purely for their reliability. And a bit like cleaners for us, reliable average ones are better than unreliable or none at all.

On that basis I wouldn’t burn bridges completely until you’ve given the new a good few goes…

“I won’t need a visit this time thank you. I’ll be in touch if I need you again”.

I wish I wasn’t so anxious! But I’m genuinely feeling nervous on what to say when she messages me

She will be very used to people changing their mind, I’m sure she won’t even give it a second thought. And I’m sure she would rather you either say that you’ve changed your mind/ have realised it’s too expensive than that you make up a different reason. You could include a sentence ‘it was nothing to do with the quality of the work’ or similar if it makes you feel better.

If you are only needing the gardener to mow the lawn, weed and tidy then I would go for the cheaper one. I'd only pay more if I was redesigning or restocking and needed expert help rather than just manual labour.

Keep it simple, 'I don't need another visit at the moment and I'll be in touch when I do'. If pushed for more information simply say that you've reexamined your spending priorities or if you want a little white lie, you husband has offered to take this on to save money (if she sees the new gardener at yours then blame your husband getting a cheaper deal!)

You don't have to explain anything. If she contacts you just say "we don't need any gardening services at the moment, but thanks"

I like the idea of saying husband wants to do the garden to save money but if the garden needs re-doing I’ll contact her in future - how can I phrase this? Sorry for sounding do needy but I’m a very highly anxious person!!

Then you say it just got to much for him to keep on top of

My gardener is £25 and hour and does just do mowing and leaf / debris clearance. Also is not uber reliable tbh.

If she does more skilled work it may be the going rate. ??

Also the vines thing i wouldn't take what your neighbour said as a fact. She may have left them for a reason.

That is really expensive. But to be fair, most gardeners haven't got a clue what they are doing, they just want to mow grass (especially if it involves a sit on mower) and go round with power hedge cutters, not spend time digging up and dividing perennials and weeding. If someone is genuinely horticulturally aware and capable of knowing what's a weed and what is isn't, and understanding when to prune certain things and when not to, then it's worth paying more. Most people are just garden clearance merchants in my experience. Everything gets cut down at the same time regardless. So it does really depend what you are after.

I am a professional gardener, fully rhs qualified and 25 years experience and find that people really don’t want to pay what is once you take out liability insurance and tax not a massive amount for a skilled tradesperson. I think it depends on the area as the gardener who lives in South east for example has higher living costs like everyone else. I think £37 is the going rate for someone who is totally self employed. If someone has a full time gardening job and does a couple ,of jobs as an extra, as horticultural work is poorly paid, then you may get a cheaper rate.

Honestly, I think it would be better and more polite to say thanks, but you don't need another visit.

A first visit is just a try-out (for her as well as you) and she won't think twice if you don't want her again. But mentioning specifics, especially money, actually does come across as irritating.

Overexplaining makes it worse. Just say you don't need any gardening services but will reach out if anything changes in the future. She will find a long obvious over explanation about how your husband is suddenly into gardening loads more cringy.

I understand that you are anxious.

So long as you are polite and don't owe money she is not going to be concerned with you.

Just send a basic message - 'Thanks for getting in touch but we can't book you again at the moment.' Nothing else is needed.