DIY or Professional Weeding? Mum needs advice

[garderloverkurt7]

Hi all! As a busy mum of two, I’m always trying to balance household chores with my love for gardening. I’m debating whether to handle weeding myself or hire a pro. I’ve read that professionals can be quicker and more thorough, but I also enjoy the time spent in my garden. For those who’ve been in the same boat, what’s your experience? Is it worth spending on a service, or is DIY the way to go? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and tips!

Weeding isn’t the first thing I’d outsource. It’s regarded as unskilled, but you do need to recognise what you’re pulling up. I remember my mother in tears when her gardener had pulled up some of her treasured plants, thinking they were weeds.

Long term, you can reduce the weed problem by planting more densely, so the weeds struggle to get a hold, and those that do are not so obvious.

And, as you hint, weeding is a peaceful way to spend time in your garden, looking closely at what’s there in a way you wouldn’t normally do.

I would instead spend money on getting hedges trimmed and lawns mown.

As @MereDintofPandiculation says, jobbing gardeners aren't always the best at weeding, most of them aren't 'gardeners' as such, and will just cut everything right back or dig it up to make the flower bed look neat and tidy. They are into maintenance and clearance rather than horticulture.

My late MIL used to pay gardeners to do her garden, and honestly it brought me endless frustration because they'd dig out things like violets and primulas and chuck them in the bin, and as for what they did to her flowering shrubs - well let's say most of them never got the chance to flower because this bloke would come and strim them all into lollipop shapes no matter what the time of year was, and he didn't care whether he was pruning off all the flower buds waiting to come out. He attacked her huge viburnum tinus and her forsythia one year, in about the end of November. I was livid. She was well over 90 and in poor health, didn't have long to go, and never got to see them flower again.

I won't even let DH do anything in our garden without direct supervision! Well okay, I let him cut the grass, but that's it.