This article is written for the information and advice for all gardeners involved in maintaining gardens, and ‘hard’ landscapers who may not carry out planting projects under normal circumstances. The advice should be adapted to suit the nature of your relationship with the customer. If you are working on a regular weekly basis, managing and maintaining the garden, all year round, and have a close working rapport with your client, much of the advice will probably be unnecessary, as you will already have a pattern for payment and level of trust already in place.
There are always those occasions when a question is posed, and you may be unsure of how to respond. Always bear in mind that we are professionals, a fact that is often overlooked by our regular clients, who tend to see us as ‘friends’, forgetting that we make our living by working in their gardens, and you do not wish to offend by having to remind them of our status. We spend our time, willingly offering free advice whenever asked, as part of our ongoing relationship during normal working practices. It can sometimes become embarrassing to have to remind them that you are working against the clock, trying to get everything neat and tidy before the end of the day, especially when it comes to ‘extra’ services that may be required. Being asked to design a border/produce a plant schedule for a particular area is one such ‘extra’ that should be considered as additional work, not part of your standard working programme.
The reason for this is simple – you will have to take time to survey the area, check soil conditions, and ascertain which plants are thriving nearby, to enable you to make an educated decision when it comes to providing your advisory notes. This may require time spent off-site, at home/in your office, which is outside your normal remit. Looking at the various questions that crop up on a regular basis on FaceBook pages, in no particular order, imagining a scenario where a regular maintenance client has asked you to come up with planning, supplying and planting a new border, containing shrubs and herbaceous, to celebrate a particular occasion, these are the most common questions;
How much should I charge?
There is no easy answer to that question, as it will all depend on the size of the project. The starting point is to ascertain the number of hours you think it will take you to conduct your survey. This should include taking photographs of the site and immediate surrounding areas. You will be looking to establish which plants are thriving, not only in the garden, but species beyond the site. Check existing soil depth and pH value, decide whether the site is wet/dry/sunny/shady/windy etc. Any other factors which may affect your plant choice? Pets, children, deer, rabbits, non-injurious (thorns etc) and compile a site condition schedule/report, which should be shared with the customer as part of your commission.
If you explain the essential requirement for this document, stating that it will take you X hours to produce, it is up to you to decide whether or not to charge your standard ‘weeding’ rate, or to introduce a ‘designer rate’ which should be at least 25% higher. Even if the client did not know that you also offered another side to your business, they will do now! The reason for the higher rate is simple – you are charging for your knowledge as a designer and professional gardener at a commercial rate for non-gardening works. Even if the customer is not happy with the rate increase, you will have made them understand that you have to charge for your time, and not simply treat you as a ‘friend’, but as a professional.
Can I charge for my time collecting the plants?
Most certainly! Even if you regularly attend your chosen source of plants – wholesaler, nursery or garden centre – you should charge as though you were making a special visit on behalf of your client. This charge may include mileage – that is up to you. (Standard mileage allowance is 45p per mile under Accountancy rules). You may wish to invite your customer to come with you when you make your selection. If you use a wholesaler, it is advisable to check with them before bringing a private customer, as they may not welcome non-commercial visitors, as they do not have ‘facilities’ or insurance cover for private customers. Think ahead, and double check that you are not introducing your customer to your favourite supplier, thereby losing your commercial advantage, especially if the wholesaler is also willing to take the ‘public shilling’ by dealing direct with your client in the future.
How much profit can I make on the plants?
My answer to that is ‘how much do you need to make?’ If you are buying through a wholesaler, you should charge retail prices (check by scanning a lot of plants prices at your local centre to get a general idea) Any discount you may receive from your garden centre (usually 10%) should be your profit, not passed on to the customer. If you are expected to warranty the plants in any way i.e replace failures, you need to cover that likely cost. This cost should not be considered when discussing profit.
Who gets the wholesale discount?
In short – if you are simply talking about how much of a mark-up should you put on the total sale of your plant purchases, the answer would be nothing more than any discount you may have achieved through the purchase. (Some wholesale style nurseries display their prices on their plants in a coded fashion. A plant showing a retail price of £10.00 is sold to the contractor for 50% of the £10.00 PLUS VAT i.e. £5.00 plus 20% = £1.00 = £6.00. The customer thinks you are paying £10.00 when you are being charged only £6.00 by the supplier). This is simply standard trading practice by landscape contractors.
This professional relationship between a wholesale supplier and a contractor is important. It follows long-established tradition in the trade, and although it may seem alien to anyone new to the business world of commercial landscape contracting, it is neither ‘profiteering’ or detrimental to the private customer in any way. Without this relationship, there would be no wholesalers servicing the landscaping industry.
Do I have to guarantee the plants?
That is entirely up to you. Consider though, that on any scheme, there will be failures. Not only deaths, but some plants refuse to grow as fast or as shapely as their neighbours, even from the same plant batch. Assuming that standard attrition rate is 10%, you may consider that you have made sufficient profit on the original sale (which is why making a profit is so important) and be prepared to offer a six month warranty on the plants. Especially as you are going to be looking after them in the future! All along, I have been assuming that the reader is a garden maintenance contractor – however, many Garden Designers and Hard Landscapers are asked to provide plants as part of a scheme, and therefore a different answer to the question of providing guarantees should be included in your standard terms & conditions, namely that you cannot be held responsible for any plant failures, as you will not be in a position to maintain them following their planting. If, however, a customer demands that you remain responsible for their health, ensure that any warranty is time limited – no more than six months – and the warranty does not include dehydration/drought, or any physical damage whatsoever, no matter how occasioned e.g. windy or animal damage.
All Garden Designers need to be aware of the need to use a second set of Terms & Conditions, as any standard Designer Terms of Engagement will not include terms required to operate as a contractor. Keep all design work totally separate from the supply and plant (or any other physical works) commissions. Suitable Ts & Cs may be found in The Landscape Library, free to download under Useful Industry Information) There is also a length article in the Library concerning Garden Designers Supplying Plants which may be of interest).
Do I have to replace failures?
I think that question has been answered above. One major point to bear in mind, is to ensure any replacement plants you provide are equal to, and not better than the original plants. If you have to replace any plants, irrespective of who is paying for them, ensure they are equal in size, shape, colour and general health to the original batch. If you arrive on site with superior replacements, be ready for a complaint, and demand to have then all replaced with the better-looking specimens!
What if they change their minds when they see the plants?
Assuming that you have carried out your research thoroughly, and discussed the planting project with the customer, it is always a good idea to take photographs of your selected plants and show them prior to ordering, if possible. Placed together in a batch at the suppliers, and presented out of the back of the car/van once on site, if they look similar in quality and quantity, there should be no questions raised. (Never rely on images taken by a third party, or chosen from a book (mood board style) otherwise you will create raised expectations.
Anyone buying and selling plants should be aware of legislation affecting such sales. Any professional operator moving or selling plants to another professional will require authorisation to issue Plant Passports. These rules do not apply to plants sold retail (i.e. face to face as opposed to mail order) to the final user. If you are buying plants and selling them to your clients, technically you require a licence to do so. For this reason, it may be sensible to avoid any problems by arranging a nursery visit with your customer, and let them pay as the end user. As long as you are being paid for your time, including time spent on research and drawing plans etc, you may find this a logical way of conducting business.
As a gardens’ maintenance contractor, you will already be covered for Public Liability for your general works. Unless you are also operating as a Designer, you will not need Public Indemnity insurance when organising the creation of a new border or planting scheme. These rules are not intended to interfere with business transactions, and everything to do with plant health.
Only by tracking plants and plant material around the world can the authorities trace outbreaks of disease, such as Phytophthora and Xylella and hopefully stay one step ahead of any problems.
Finally, if you are asked by your customer to design and supply such planting schemes, there may be other ways to provide that service, involving taking cuttings and growing plants from seeds, especially if you have a greenhouse under your care. In this way, you can be creative and productive, earning extra income through your skills and knowledge without having to get involved in extra curricula activities!
Alan Sargent