I don't know what's worse--plant janitors (can't call them gardeners) with no understanding of sustainable landscaping practices or the owner who pays them and lets them get away with all sorts of heinous acts. In this week's column at Edhat.com I explore why the buck keeps getting passed around.
6 comments:
I've been thinking lately about doing a re-training course for all my staff, and have been looking for as much info as possible - how can I get my grubby paws on those pamphlets, does the Green Gardener Program have a website?
I found the site, what a great idea - I've been thinking that we need some kind of accreditation or at the least, quality control for garden services in South Africa. At the moment anybody with a bakkie(pickup) can start a garden service which gives the guys who do things properly a bad name.
I think people don't want to pay what a real gardener (=me) would charge and prefer to have a lawn service company do "gardening" at, say, $10 an hour. I did have some clients a while back who were burned by the clueless ripping out plants thinking they were weeds, etc. I always sweep my walk with a broom. It honestly never occurred to me to use a hose or worse yet damn leaf blower! And rakes rule--I admit I do like the scratchy sound of a metal rake on asphalt! I've been an organic gardener since waaay before there was a name for it; to me it just makes sense to use hand tools and not buy power equipment (um, except for chainsaws, which I need initially to cut apart some railroad ties, but which has way fewer gardening applications than I had hoped... hmmm it's really overkill for cutting down buckthorn (usually I use lopers or a shovel), but fun! HAARRRR!)
Janitor is the perfect term, that's exactly what they are. It irritates me every time I hear a client refer to "my gardener." They are firmly entrenched, though; trying to fight them off and keep them out of our gardens is like doing battle with ivy or oxalis.
Do people really hose down the sidewalks there? That doesn't happen here ~ most of us in my neighbourhood still use rakes for leaf collection. Every now and then, we'll hear the sound of a leaf blower. That usually happens around 7:00 am on Sunday mornings. I'd never want to give up my bamboo rake. It's lasted a good many years and costs nothing to operate. Besides it's good for my biceps or triceps. "geatio" is the verification word. Better than "colon".
Ah yes, finally, the perfect name for them... Plant Janitors!
Seriously, it makes sense.
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