Gardener’s Code of Conduct

Be honest about your knowledge and skill levels.

If you go to look at a garden and feel that it’s out of your league, just say so. There is no shame in that, and your new customer might be happy to hand hold you while you learn the plants and how to care for them. If not, they will appreciate that you’ve been honest, not ruined their specimen borders, and have an opportunity to find another more experienced gardener.

If you don’t know how to do something just say so. Don’t prune a shrub or weed out a plant if you’re not sure what it is.

The customer may likely know and be able to tell you about a particular plant in their garden but, if not, you can look it up or/and seek advice from another Weeder or a gardening forum, so you know for your next session.

People respect honestly because it reduces risk to themselves.

Having horticultural qualifications is great but above all you need to be reliable. At the very least you must do what you say you will and ideally over deliver on that.

You need to respond to customers in a timely manner, turn up when you say you will and commit to whatever you both agree.

In time your customers will learn to trust you and will give you more autonomy but you need to prove yourself first!

Members of our collective are hard working, conscientious and reliable.

Make sure you arrive in the garden, at the expected, allotted time ready to work.

Do not arrive 5 minutes late and charge the for a full hour. If anything, work over your time but never work less. It may not be mentioned to you at the time but it’s likely to be noted and overtime it will build up animosity.

If you are working in a garden, where you are not greeting and bidding farewell, consider downloading a time stamp  photo app to your phone to prove your arrival and leaving time and which you can send to the owner as courtesy.

It’s not necessarily how fast paced you are but what you get done in the allotted time.

It is worthwhile mixing up tasks in each session so that you complete some tasks that are quick but have a big visual impact with some that are just as important but are more meticulous and may go unnoticed by the customer.

If your customer has a very big garden, that has been neglected for some time, then meticulous weeding one small area with a hand trowel might not deliver the appropriate level of doneness in each session and could seem like poor value for money. Consider whether digging over larger areas with spade or fork and getting out the bigger weeds will make a bigger difference to the overall look of the garden in a faster, more efficient time.

Discuss options with your customer.

If your session is a full 8 hours, then it is reasonable that the customer will expect you to take breaks.

Discuss with them how many breaks you will take and how you will take them. For example, you may take an hour off and go off site or you may take smaller 5 or 10 minutes breaks throughout the day. Any- which-way you must discuss this with your customer because, if every time they look out of the window you happen to be on your phone, it won’t look very good on you!

You will also need to discuss whether they are agreeable in paying for your downtime.

It is unreasonable to expect a customer to absorb the cost for even a small break for a 2-hour session so make sure you leave yourself enough time between gardens for a rest.

If you or your customer are particularly chatty then they might not be aware that it is on their time.

To avoid any awkwardness make it clear, when you agree to start working for them, that your time starts from when you arrive on site until you announce that you’re finished.

If you have time to chat, after you’ve finished your session, then it’s on your time and up to you whether you make your excuses to get to your next customer or whether you are happy to use this as down time.

Some customers who live alone enjoy the company of their gardener and see this as an important part of the service they are paying for. As long as they know that they are paying you for your company then don’t try and cut them off because your company may be an important highlight of their week and for their mental well-being.

Try and multi-task by working whilst chatting with them. Encourage them to talk to you while you work or to help you, even if they just hold the string while you are tying in the runner beans.

Sharing simple experiences like this can be the most rewarding part of the job.

Don’t assume a customer will want something done in the same way that you would do it.

You might think that removing leaves from the lawn and mulching the beds with them is a job well done, but they might prefer, or assume, that you would pick up every fallen leaf and take them to the bonfire area.

Discuss what needs to be done, how it will be done, the speed that they expect a job to be done and what you think you can realistically manage.

By the end of the session, if you have managed more that you both thought was possible then they will be delighted with your service and give you a great review .

Remember that the customer is paying you to be interested in their life and garden. They’re not paying to hear about your life or woes or ailments.

When they open the door, greet them with a warm smile.

Ask them how they are with genuine interest and ask them about something they mentioned from your last session. It shows that you listen and care.

Be upbeat and cheerful. Be enthusiastic about how their garden looks and how the weather doesn’t bother you.

It’s difficult to work in the rain because it turns the soil to treacle and walking on the grass can ruin the lawn.

Unless you can find garden jobs that can be done that doesn’t involve soil, such as in a green-house or a shed, your customers will understand if you cancel the session.

Working in very cold or very hot weather depends really on your tolerances although digging the ground when it is frozen is not possible.

It is not the responsibility of WeWeed or the garden owner to make their environment safe. They are not the business owner in your relationship. You are.

At the very least you should have public liability insurance but if you wish to cover yourself for injury at work speak to your insurance company.

Assess the environment you are about to start work in. For example: If there is decking it may well be slippery, there may be pot-holes in the ground, or hidden roots, there may be crumbling walls and internet cables under the ground. There may be hidden, live wires connected to water features or outdoor lights.

Ask the customer where any wires or internet cables might be and if they know of any hazards before you agree to start work for them. If you consider the garden too dangerous to work in you must say so, do not put yourself at risk.

Always shut gates behind you, even if you’re not asked to you, until it becomes habitual. You won’thttps://weweed.co.uk/terms-conditions/ be able to live with yourself if their new puppy runs out into the road!

Never use equipment or ladders that you have not been trained to use or feel uncomfortable in using.

Never use chemicals without having a certificate of competence.

Learn to lift safely and be deliberate in every action you make. In other words, consider where you will put your feet, hands and tools before you move them. Every time.

WeWeed is not liable for any damage or accidents, is not responsible for your safety and can not give you legal advice. Please speak to your insurance company and Health & Safety Executive for further guidance.

You need a commercial garden waste license to take green waste away from your customers’ gardens.

You can get this from your council and it’s usually free. However this does not permit you to dispose of the waste in a civic recycling center. Once you are being paid as a gardener the waste becomes commercial waste and you need to depose of it in a commercial waste center. This is usually expensive and so makes this a service prohibitive to the smaller independent gardener.

Instead establish whether the customer has garden waste bins, compost heaps or an another way to dispose of the waste themselves.

As an alternative solution, making green 272 litre waste bags available for them to purchase, means they can use them as over-flow bags to pop into the garden waste bin when it has been emptied or a tidy and convenient way to for them to take to the tip themselves.

If the garden is very overgrown then you may suggest that they use a garden waste company to get it under control first, as they will have the means to take the waste away.

Our membership fees offer incredible value and supporting members contribute to maintaining the site which enables us to grow our community. 

Therefore we ask politely that you do not attempt to add your contact details anywhere in your free public profile or repeatedly turn your paid subscription on and off to try and cheat the subscription fees. Please note that if you down-grade your membership you may have to pay a higher fee when you up-grade again. 

We ask also that you do not populate your profile, dashboards or send messages with inappropriate or offensive content.

Gardeners found doing any of the above or anything else that we deem offensive, inappropriate or that could bring us into disrepute, will have their profile cancelled immediately and indefinitely. Please see our terms and conditions for more details.