How to Find and Hire a Gardener?
There's no doubt about it, keeping a garden looking great takes hard work. If you're not up for the challenge (or just don't have the time), hiring a gardener may be the perfect solution for you. But how do you go about finding and hiring the right gardener for your needs? Read on for tips on how to find and hire the perfect gardener for your garden.
Use These Tips to Find Your Perfect Gardener!
Finding reliable and high-quality landscape gardeners can be a serious challenge. The last thing you want to do is waste your time ringing gardeners only to receive ridiculous quotes and deal with last-minute cancellations and shoddy work. To help you out, we will share tips to find the perfect gardener and reveal the best platforms to hire them.
1. Determine What Services You Required
Before you go about finding a garden, you first need to decide what exactly you need to be done at your home. For example, if you just need general trimming and lawn mowing, then there are lots of gardeners who can do a great job, and finding a service should not be too difficult. However, if you need more difficult tasks done, such as removing trees or taking care of exotic plants, then you will need to find an expert.
Once you know exactly what services you need, you can search for a gardener more effectively. This also prevents you from being talked into services you don’t need by gardeners using aggressive sales tactics.
2. Come up With a Budget
To ensure you don’t overspend on creating your ideal garden, make sure you come up with a figure you are willing to spend. Your budget should be slightly flexible, but it should have a hard cap. If you are willing to spend $200 per month, don’t be talked into paying $400 per month.
A great way to negotiate with gardeners is to simply give them your final price and see what they say. If they agree, that is great; if not, just ring up another gardener and give them your price. This negotiating tactic speeds up the process and keeps you in control of the situation.
3. Decide if You Want a Big Company or Independent Provider
Both big companies and independent gardeners can offer great services. The benefits of going with a big company are that they have tons of reviews, their pricing is transparent, they are fully licensed, and if something goes wrong, it is easy to get it fixed.
The upside of going with an independent gardener is you can offer a much better price. However, you have to be careful and do your due diligence when it comes to their licenses and qualifications. Also, good independent gardeners are willing to go above and beyond for their regular gardeners, providing personal service that big companies with tons of clients can't match.
4. Make Sure the Gardener is Licensed
Gardeners need to have liability insurance and be licensed to operate in your state. Gardeners who are unlicensed and don’t have insurance are operating illegally. If someone goes wrong, they are likely to run away and leave you to clean up the mess. Also, make sure they have specific licenses for specialized services. For example, arborists require special additional training.
It is a good idea to always check a gardener’s documents before you agree to hire. If they have a problem showing you their business documents, this is a major red flag, and you should look for another provider!
5. Ask For References
A great way to find out if a gardener is worth hiring is to ask them to connect you with some of their initial clients. Don't settle for just one; make sure the gardener gives you at least three. You can ring the existing clients and even swing by their homes to check out their gardens. Remember to ask about prices, services, and any negative experiences. Make sure that the gardener has experience performing the type of work you need to be done at your home!
Asking for references is not a foolproof strategy, as gardeners will only give you contact details for existing customers who are satisfied with their work. However, if you press the customers and ask some tough questions, they will eventually give you a true insight into the quality of the gardener's work.
What Are the Best Platforms to Hire a Gardener On?
It has never been easier to hire gardeners, thanks to online platforms. After just a few minutes of browsing these platforms, you can connect with a highly skilled and experienced gardener in your local area. The current best platforms to hire a gardener on:
- Craigslist
- SignalHire
- Airtasker
Find a Gardener on Craigslist
Craigslist is the biggest classified advertising site in the US. The site gets over 250 million people per month, and on average, each user spends 14 minutes on the site. To find amazing gardeners on Craigslist, simply head to the site, select your location, and type in “gardener” or “landscaping.” Then you will see hundreds of ads for different gardeners offering their services in your local area.
Click on the different ads to find out what exact services they offer and see pictures of their work. Attached to the ad will be contact details, including phone numbers and email addresses. This classified site is completely free to use and lets you quickly find gardeners.
Hire a top Gardener at SignalHire
SignalHire is one of the biggest employee directories on the planet. Enter your location and the type of service you are looking for; in this case, enter “gardening” or “landscaping” and then hit enter. Instantly you will be met with a massive list of professional gardeners, plus their contact information.
To find out more about local gardeners, click on the person’s name, and you will be brought to their profile. Here you will be able to see their work experience, education, and contact details!
Your Next Gardener is on Airtasker
Airtasker is an online platform that makes it easy to outsource everything in your life. Airtasker lets you easily search your local area and be connected with experienced gardeners. You can search for the exact gardening services you need and then browse profiles of professionals in your area. On their profiles, you can see reviews from previous customers, which makes selecting the perfect gardener. Even better, Airtasker handles all of the payments and will only release the payment once you are fully satisfied with the gardening service you have received!
Final Thoughts
There are so many gardeners out there but finding high-quality and affordable solutions is no simple task. To make the process easier, make sure you have a clear idea of the services you want, come up with a budget and then take the time to check references and make sure the gardener is licensed and insured.
To find a gardener quickly online, we recommend checking out the gardener directory from SignalHire. Here you can quickly find top-tier gardeners from around the country. Simply click on the gardener’s name to receive all their contact details and more information about their experience and qualifications.
