We understand that putting yourself out there, when you’re not yet confident in your abilities, can be a bit scary but we are here to support you and answer your questions. We can also help to create your profile if you are unsure of what to write in your biog or what pictures to include. 

If there are other gardeners in your area you can message them to ask if you could buddy you up with them for a few hours of voluntary work. You will get the opportunity to ask them questions and draw on their experiences. 

We also run regular a webinar Q&A sessions called How to be a self Employed Gardener: The Basics. There is a 50% discount for full members.   

There are groups and forums with supportive like-minded people to help you and answer any questions, no matter how silly you may think they are. We are all newbies at some point!   

You can also email us to arrange a chat!  We are very nice.

Public liability insurance typically costs around £70 a year and takes just minutes to arrange with most insurance companies such as Simply Business or  Trade Direct Insurance.

Other useful insurance 

You can also take out extra insurance for your work vehicle, tools and injury.

If you hire someone to work with you, it is a legal requirement to have employers’ liability insurance in place, your insurance company should be able to support you with this too.

Basic membership is free and allows you to see if anyone is interested in your services before you fully commit yourself to a paid subscription.   

You will only be able to connect with other gardeners, customers, and benefit from member groups, forums, discounts meet-ups and support when you subscribe as a full member.   

Full membership is currently at an introductory rate of £4.95 a month and is paid via direct debit.

You can down-grade or cancel your membership at any time but any payments made prior to your cancellation will not be refunded. 

If you down-grade your membership and decide at a later date to upgrade again you may have to pay a higher rate. 

What is a DBS check and do I need one?

A DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check enables employers to check the criminal records of current and potential employees in order to ascertain whether or not they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults and children.

You can request a basic check for £23 yourself which can be renewed annually at £13 a year. A standard check is useful if you want to reassure customers that are employing you to work for their older parents or for people that are vulnerable in some way.

You can then share your DBS certification with other employers. Further information and advice on DBS checks are available on the gov.org website.

If you earn £1000 a year or less from one or more trades (gardening being one of them) then you do NOT have to declare this income to HMRC. If you earn more than this, then you need to declare this income to HMRC on a tax return. For details of how to do this please take advice from this page of the www.gov.uk website

How much you can charge depends on how much customers are willing to pay for your skills and knowledge. 

For example: If you are a total newbie but your customer enjoys your company, is grateful for the help, happy for you to use their tools, and they are willing to show you a weed from a plant, then there are mutual benefits, and it is reasonable to ask for anything between £15 and £20 hour depending on the demand in your area.

Once you are more confident and have your own tools and reasonable plant knowledge then it is reasonable to charge £20- £25 an hour.

When your plant knowledge enables you to design borders and you are competent at pruning and plant care including fruit trees, vines and soil health then it is not unreasonable to charge £25 – £35 an hour or more.

If you have experience and  horticultural qualifications and all tools including specialist ladders and professional power tools then you can charge in excess of £35. 

Your value is based on how well you listen, learn, communicate, and deliver. Your reviews will help customers see your worth and what your best attributes are.

You don’t have to be Monty Don to add value to a garden. Just being able to work fast and be thorough could earn you £20 an hour.

Everyone learns differently – you must choose the best way for you.

When you upgrade as a full member you can connect and work alongside other more experienced gardeners and they may ask for your help in their gardens in a paid capacity.  

As well has helping other gardeners, WeWeed advocate learning from experienced garden owners, who can’t manage their own gardens anymore, as there are many mutual benefits that include companionship and mental well-being.

If you don’t know a plant or how to care for it, don’t be afraid to ask as your customers as they are likely to be familiar with the plants they have in their garden and may know the best care for them already.

If the customer isn’t able to help you, there are many plant identification apps. We like the paid version of PictureThis.

Use Google and YouTube to help you learn about a plant, tree or shrub, to see how to care for it and when and how to prune it.

If you are still in doubt, take a picture and ask for advice from another gardener on our forums. 

We also support THRIVE who are the leading UK charity, using gardening to transform lives that have been touched by disability. They are a team of social and therapeutic horticulture trained specialists who also run courses in therapeutic horticulture therapeutic gardening. They also have three centres in the UK where you can gain experience as a volunteer.

If you want to improve your horticultural knowledge and gain recognised qualifications and certificates of competence then there are many other courses available from respected and well known organisations such as the Royal Horticultural Society.

If you are just starting out and are not sure how many hours you are likely to commit to paid gardening, then please don’t spend thousands of pounds on professional kit.

Your customers may have equipment you can use, although the use of their power tools, without knowing how safe they are to use and without training, carries risks.

A sharp pair of secateurs and sheers as well as a hand fork, trowel and a spade are enough to get you started on small gardens that require some light weeding and clipping.

If you decide you want to take on more gardens and want to increase your hourly fee, then grass strimmers and leaf-blowers are great for making gardens look spic and span.

As with any tools there are home and professional versions. Ryobi offer great value for beginners. Makes such as Ego and Stihl are for professionals and their prices reflect this.

Yes. We are not exclusive. Our aim is to dispel the myth that only strong, butch males can be gardeners. In fact, we welcome people who can do the bigger stuff, such as hedge cutting and fencing, as it helps to provide all garden services in one place.     

Yes – We are not exclusively for start up gardeners. We want to encourage more women to begin their careers here, but we also want experienced gardeners to be part of our community too.

There are mutual benefits for having both start up and experienced gardeners in the same area: 

You may have a garden that you have rejuvenated and which now just needs simple maintenance. You might want to hand this over to someone less experienced so that you can take on another more challenging  project. 

You may want to enlist the help of a start up gardener to help with big planting projects.  

In return, a start up gardener will have you for support if they have any questions.  

Generally, customers will not expect you to work in adverse weather conditions such as in extreme heat waves, sub-zero temperatures or torrential rain but everyone has different tolerances; as long as you make it clear to your customers which weathers you can’t work in, they will understand.

However, working in borders, in the rain, is difficult because the soil turns into unworkable, sticky mud and, walking on the lawn, with muddy boots, can damage it. If there are jobs that are away from soil, like clearing sheds or weeding a gravel drive, then all well and good but make it clear to your customers that it’s not that you are frightened of a bit of rain, moreover that you don’t want to ruin their garden.

In the beginning a simple word document will suffice.   As well as the amount they owe, and the nature of the work carried out, you need to include your name, address, that of your client, as well as the date and a sequential invoice number.

When you start to get more customers you may decide to use an accounting platform such as Quick Books.