Can gardeners still work right now?

[Oceans12isCrap]

On the one hand you could say their work is "essential" as they are self employed with no other way to pay the bills.

It's in the open air with no contact with others.

What do people think?

My mother's is. She's staying outside and gets paid by bank transfer.

I don't see why not. Ditto window cleaners. As long as you have what you need and aren't needing to get supplies. You work outside and can be paid remotely.

The reason I'm asking is that I'm sitting outside and can hear so many lawnmowers and it got me thinking.

My garden could certainly do with a tidy up and it would be good to give a bit of work to someone local.

But no chance if it is going against the current rules.

Slightly different as I have a window cleaner but not a gardener. As a customer i class neither as essential but my window cleaner works on his own, his water is already in his van and we pay online so we are definitely keeping him on unless he's told to stop working.

The specific requirement is that you can go out to do work that "absolutely cannot be done from home". The work itself doesn't have to be essential. So, I don't see why not. That said, I think any gardener would certainly be expected to stay 2m away from others, and so forth.

I am a professional gardener, working full time on a private estate. Have been told NOT to attend for work until further notice, with effect from Boris's address on Monday evening - also been told that my job will be waiting for me when normality resumes, but I am, as yet, unsure whether or not I will be paid during my period of enforced abscence! Dread to think what the gardens and grounds will look like if or when I am able to return. Personally I can see no valid reason why I could not have carried on working, outside, away from people, in the fresh air and no public transport used to get to work so my risk of infecting or being infected by others is very low.
I do not see why gardeners such as myself or mobile self employed gardeners cannot carry on, providing, of course, that strict hygiene/social distancing protocols are followed.

Hey ho - will just have to get my gardening 'fix' and creative juices flowing in my own garden at home

Ok, this is good to hear then. Thank you!

Nicola Sturgeon said yes they can as long as no contact etc but obviously thats Scotland....seems to make sense to me in a way but then obviously they are driving places when they dont need to....

My husband is a gardener and is still working

He's not having any face to face contact with clients and only taking payment by BACS

He's self employed and obviously can't do his job from home so until the government says he can't, he's going to work

The stay at home plea is not just about not passing the virus on. It is to keep all sorts of serious injuires out of hospitals. The more people that are out and about doing whatever they seem to think they should do, the more likely it is that people for one reason or another will end up in hospital or ICU.(and of course keep on spreading the virus uncontrollably) The gently does it approach of this government is not working. The governments half measures and contradicting advice is costing lives now. Imagine the scenario in 2 weeks. The advice to ONLY go to work if it is an ESSENTIAL role to fight this virus quickly overnight became mmm well actually go on then you can all go to work! Lets not burden the nurses and doctors with making even more choices than they already have to. The sun may be shining but the tsunami is definately coming. STAY AT HOME. We are in this together. We can only fight this together. Stop the oh it doesnt apply to me and it wont happen to me mentality. I really hope this government ramp things up. Honeslty i do not know what other countries must think of the response of the UK government or the public who think a tidy garden hedge or a block of luxury flats being built is more important than life itself. Money will not slow this nightnare. STAY. AT. HOME.

It is easy to say stay at home if you are in a job where you can work from home or where you will get paid whatever.

For the self employed there is no safety net/ no work, no pay, no money for rent, no money to put food on the table. What are they to do?

Obviously I am assuming they can work isolated from other people....

Ours was here this morning, only one of them when there's usually 2 of them. First time he's been since winter. I was more worried about cut grass and hay fever,