Hire Someone or Do it Yourself?

[DecMikashimota]

It is possible to not know where to begin but there are certainly ways about it.
Hiring a contractor capable of installing, maintaining upkeep and introducing new plants to your garden for you. The question is would you rather pay someone to do your gardening for you or do it yourself?

 

[Chuck]

If I were to win the lottery I'd still do it myself. Where is the self satisfaction?

 

[Beth_B]

Do it myself because I enjoy it* but if I had the money I might hire someone to "consult." The nicest garden I ever had was at a previous house, and I was dating someone at the time who had a masters in horticulture and worked in that field. He helped me plan an awesome terraced perennial garden; my whole front yard.

*While I love tinkering and planting and even weeding, I loathe lawnmowing with the heat of a thousand suns. I pay to have that done.

 

[marlingardener]

Oh, no! I have seen what paid personnel can do to a garden--get out the weed whackers and make everything the same height! Finding someone who knows, and more importantly, cares, around here is virtually impossible. I much prefer to do the work myself with the help of my dear husband.
Gardening for me is not work, it's a joy and an opportunity to share flowers and vegetables with friends. You can't pay buy that kind of happiness!

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Good Luck finding someone who knows what they are doing. Been trying for 20 years.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

I will do it myself for as long as I can, I had some one come mow my front lawn until he cut it way to low and I almost ended up with no lawn, I'll save my money and buy new plants.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Some of my gardens I can have a novice work them. some NOT. cutting grass is not the chore its all the other stuff. I am hoping to retire next August 2017 then I can putts all day in all the gardens. But in the mean time its nice to have someone. we try to at least get someone to help with the leaves in the fall.

 

[mgmine]

I would still do it myself. If I could find a good landscape designer I would use them for their knowledge of plants but still do the bull work. What I would be concerned with hiring someone would be ending up with a generic garden.

 

[BlueLotus]

I'm bad with tools so I usually hire someone to help me build raised beds or handle putting in the irrigation in. Sometimes it's just having an extra pair of hands that helps when you're first establishing a garden that helps you not get overwhelmed. After that, I do all my weeding and gardening myself.

 

[atlmom5]

If you're only talking about maintaining a garden, I would have to say, I would prefer to do it myself. There's something about looking outside and knowing that I created that.

 

[digger]

I'll never hire someone to do the gardening for me. It's a hobby that's been part of me ever since I can remember. I grew up in the countryside where people plant and eat from their garden and those of their neighbor's. In fact, I would like to nurture a bigger farm where I can grow more vegetables and sell them to people. I also like to experiment and take things slowly when working in my garden. My grandpa always tended to his farm up to the ripe age of 90 and whenever I work on my own vegetable garden, I remember him and work as slowly as he did, as if savoring every moment that he looked after and watered each plant.

 

[amelia88]

I enjoy doing it myself - but I do think that if I had a larger property, perhaps, then I might look at having someone else professionally assist. The fact of the matter is my husband and I are but two people, with a family, friends, and careers in the mix - this really means that time isn't necessarily on our side with every single gardening project we want to do! Obviously, it's not too bad right now since our space isn't all that large, but certainly if circumstances change I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[Corzhens]

We have a big advantage when it comes to laborious garden work. Our extended garden is about 200 square meters which is actually a vacant lot beside our property. When planting crops like corn or cassava, the soil needs tilling and it is a big task for us. What we do is pay someone to prepare the soil for us. We pay $10 for a whole day's work that comes with free food and cold water (or soda sometimes). When planting, we can do it ourselves since we have 2 housemaids who would help us. The same with harvesting, not much of a problem. But when the weeds go out of control, we again hire people to pull the weeds by hand. That's the luxury that we have here, cheap labor.

 

[DeborahJane]

We have a big advantage when it comes to laborious garden work. Our extended garden is about 200 square meters which is actually a vacant lot beside our property. When planting crops like corn or cassava, the soil needs tilling and it is a big task for us. What we do is pay someone to prepare the soil for us. We pay $10 for a whole day's work that comes with free food and cold water (or soda sometimes). When planting, we can do it ourselves since we have 2 housemaids who would help us. The same with harvesting, not much of a problem. But when the weeds go out of control, we again hire people to pull the weeds by hand. That's the luxury that we have here, cheap labor.

That is big advantage Corzhens. No cheap labour here except for me!!!

 

[DeborahJane]

We have a fairly large block, 2/3 acre and "pre-gardening "we had someone to come in to mow the lawn and tidy up. Now "post-or-should-I-say-present gardening" I'm way to protective of it. It's all MY work, MY work ...except for the mowing the lawn and then it's HIS work.