Dear LPG,

I remember the day that my young family and I moved into our brand new house.  We were so proud to have been the first people ever to have lived there and to me it is still the new house that I moved into even though more than forty years have gone by and everyone has moved out except for me.  I suspect that I am like many pensioners who would not feel at home anywhere else and I know that I won’t want to move until I absolutely have to. 

I still see it as the perfect place that I first moved into but, being locked down at home for so long has given me a lot of time to take a good look through the window every morning and see my back garden for the bit of a wilderness that it has gradually become, in spite of all my efforts to keep it tidy.  So, now that we can get a few things done again, I decided to spend a bit on it to give it a facelift.

It was the grass that was upsetting me the most, and I decided that a radical makeover was the way to go but I had no idea how to find a good gardener.   A neighbour had his done a couple of years before the pandemic started and told me what it cost, so I had an idea of what I was willing to pay.  

I first approached a man who was working on the garden next door but one and he quoted me a lot less than I thought having it re-turfed would cost.  Then it was off to the internet where I found quite a few websites where you could sign up and advertise the job, but my big question was; how do you find a man who will do a good job for a fair price. 

There is no real answer to that question but I learned a few things that I think I should pass on just in case you are taking a bit of a critical look at your own grass, or some other job that you need to pay for help with at the moment.  My secrets were; decide on the maximum you are willing to pay, make sure to get at least three estimates and remember that the cheapest is not always the best, check out the feedback that has already been left by the workers past clients, get a written agreement stating what is to be done and how much it will cost before the work starts and never pay in full until the job is done and you are happy with the initial effect.   If you can get a friend or two to give an opinion before you make your final choice, that is a really good thing to do as well. 

Finally, if you found your gardener, repairman or building specialist online, don’t forget to leave a true review of his work.   It helps the worker, especially if he did a good job for you, and it also helps the next person who needs some work done to work out if he is the right person for their job.  All too often you only see the really good reviews or the really bad ones which can distort any builder’s (or gardener’s) web visitor’s view of what he is really capable of.

I am so happy that I could not help but send a before and after picture of my beautiful new lawn but whatever the job, please take care before you let a repair man loose in your home. 

AY, Brockley

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