Garden Assistants: Don’t be afraid to hire some help
Hiring garden helpers: best decision I could make
Sometimes a gift comes knocking and other times we have to go looking for it. When it comes to garden help, I’ve had it both ways. And, both times, hiring individuals to help with the garden has been one of the best decisions I’ve made.
I’m NOT talking about a landscape company to come and cut the grass, blow leaves, prune trees to within and inch of their lives and generally cause a bigger commotion than is necessary.
Our dogwood in full fall colours stands out in the woodland garden and adds a little pop to the landscape.
I am talking about two types of garden help: First a young man with little garden knowledge but a strong back and a good work ethic; and two, a young very knowledgeable woman who makes gardening her full time work.
Consider hiring a student to help fulfill your vision
My first foray into hiring help for the garden came just as Covid began to kick in. As stores and restaurants closed, jobs became quite scarce for young people. Finding work was difficult to say the least.
It was about that time that I got a text message from a young man – home from university – and looking for work. I had hired him the year prior for some garden work so I knew the type of young man and worker he was.
And, so the gift that came as a message on my phone: “Hi Vic… If there is any outdoor work that you would like to get done this summer I would be very happy to come and help out. If you are not comfortable with it, I completely understand, though I could come with my own gloves, water etc and stay outside to ensure proper distancing. Let me know what you think, no rush.”
Keeping everything tidy in the Japanese-inspired garden is just one of the benefits of having a little help around the garden.
It was a gift from heaven. I had ideas and together with his young, brute strength we managed to transform the back garden that year.
His timing could not have been better.
Like most of us, our backyard garden became our refuge during the most difficult days of the pandemic. It’s always been a place my wife and I retreat to when we need some peace from the world, but it has never been more important than it was then.
(For more on gardening on a budget check out my in-depth here.
Our garden was looking a little shabby. The projects were piling up in my mind as fast as my right hip was disintegrating and making the simplest of these projects an extremely painful exercise.
And along comes the answer to our problems in the form of a young man looking for summer work to help pay for his university.
This image shows some of the work our student finished be removing most of the grass and covering the ground with mulch and stepping stones.
Sometimes you just need a little muscle
I am sure we are not alone. Those of us lucky enough to have homes and gardens to retreat to, who are still employed or living comfortably in retirement, owe it to our youth to help them get through difficult times.
I had a garden vision, I just needed someone to make it happen and hiring a student in this case was much less expensive than hiring a landscaping firm.
Just two weeks later and our backyard was transformed by this young man.
Bringing the garden vision to life
Nine yards of natural cedar mulch plus an additional 15-20 bags have replaced huge swaths of grass and over-run gardens that are now perfectly edged.
Trees have a new home, hostas and grasses split into multiple plants and moved to new locations around the garden.
A massive woodpile was created to provide a home for chipmunks, birds, snakes, salamanders and a host of insects.
Patio stones lifted and straightened after years of slowly sinking into the ground and making the patio look shabbier than it was. Stone edges were added to the patio. Old composters and BBQs disposed of and, in some cases, replaced after laying new patio stones.
Stepping stones placed strategically around the garden to help bring it all together.
When the work was completed, I could tell he was almost as pleased with the results as I was. There was a lot for him to be proud of here.
By working with a garden helper, those little things are easier to take car of and the garden can look its best for a longer period over the summer and fall.
Together, an old retired guy with a bad hip and a young man with a quiet disposition and a fierce work habit, got together to create something extremely important – a garden.
My vision, his muscle all came together in just a few weeks of work.
And I barely lifted a finger.
Truly a gift my wife and I will enjoy for years to come, and, who knows, maybe our Woodland garden inspired a young man to take a real interest in the environment, gardening and one day creating his own Woodland retreat some time in the future.
A young woman with expertise and a vision
Fast forward to this year and that hip I mentioned earlier was only getting worse. Garden work was not an option. Heck, walking from one end of the garden to the other proved too difficult some days.
That’s when My Garden Helper, Michelle, came into the picture. Michelle operates her own gardening business aimed at helping seniors stay in their homes longer by taking care of all the garden work that gets more and more difficult as age and old bones take over.
This was the year I needed someone like Michelle more than ever. After years of having to do all the work ourselves, my wife and I were able to find someone to make life just a little easier.
From her first visit, I knew we were going to make a great team. It wasn’t just her eagerness, but when we toured the garden and I explained my non-traditional approach to gardening, I could tell she got me and my vision of a garden for wildlife rather than a pretty picture of plants lined up in a row.
Not only did I see that she got my vision, but I knew quickly that I could benefit from her garden vision and experience.
From the back half of summer, through to fall, Michelle would drop by for about four hours every second week to help out. She split and moved plants, cleaned up a couple of wilder areas, planted bags and bags of bulbs that I can’t wait to see emerge this spring and helped with a little fall cleanup.
She’ll be back in spring to begin on some of our new projects and together we’ll create a garden to dream of.
If you have been putting off hiring some help, now is the perfect time to line up your Garden Helper for next season.
Gardening on a budget links
Ten money-saving tips for the weekend gardener
DIY Bark Butter feeder for Woodpeckers
DIY reflection pond for photography
Click & Grow is ideal for Native Plants from seed