Do-it-now-landscaping News: Gardening: How to hire help for your yard or garden

Summary:
Here's what you want: a little help in the yard or garden.Someone you can trust to mow or fertilize, to gently remove a dying tree branch or deftly wield a pair of pruning shears to restore a tired-looking shrub to glory.Here's what you're afraid you'll get: a back yard with a buzz cut.Flowers, plants and shrubs brutalized by indiscriminate hacking, digging or spraying.And to top it off, a budget-busting bill for the "help."More and more homeowners are coming to think of their outdoor spaces as another "room" that needs special attention --- and they're spending more money to hire yard, garden and lawn-care specialists to help them do it.Consumers spent $37.9 billion on professional landscape, lawn and tree-care services in 2003, up 30 percent from 2002, according to the American Nursery & Landscape Association.Some are aging baby boomers looking for someone else to do the heavy lifting in the garden.Local gardeners and experts offer some advice and tips on what you should think about, and watch out for, in hiring someone to help take care of your yard or garden.Walk around and make notes, even a map, of the features in your yard and problem areas or plants.They may have little or no training in horticulture, said Jeanne McNeil, executive director of the Washington State Nursery & Landscape Association.Your best bet is to have them stick mostly to the grass, McNeil said --- even weeding can go wrong if the person doing it doesn't distinguish between a weed and a plant.On the other hand, a gardener will have experience or training in horticulture and professional affiliations or certification."There's a huge difference between pruning a tree and lawn care," said Susan Papanikolas, a local garden consultant whose business is called How Does Your Garden Grow?"Go to the nicest-looking garden in the neighborhood and ask who does their maintenance," McNeil advised.The Washington State Nursery & Landscape Association has a searchable database of its members.You also can see which ones have earned its professional certification as Certified Professional Horticulturists (CPH) by passing a written exam and demonstrating work experience: www.wsnla.org.The International Society of Arboriculture certifies tree-care professionals with at least three years' experience who have passed a written exam.Expect to pay $30 to $50 per hour for a gardener in the Puget Sound area, said Annie Bilotta referral-service coordinator for Plant Amnesty.You probably don't need someone with specialist credentials if the job involves just mowing, but you may get a better-quality job and more reliable service if you pay a little more, said Papanikolas.Make sure to ask whether there are dump, equipment or mileage fees, drive-time charges or other extra charges.For comparison: Ken's Yard Service, which works mostly in West Seattle and Burien, charges on average $30 per visit for mowing only.Ann Baron said her company's fees vary from $15 to $35 an hour, depending on the skill level of the worker or workers hired.She recommends homeowners be clear about how many people they're getting --- will it be a crew or a single person?Her company also charges a drive-time fee, meaning the clock starts ticking when the crew leaves the office and covers the drive to the homeowner's property.

The Seattle Times: Gardening: How to hire help for your yard or gardenhttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/gardening/2002208431_gardenhelp16.html

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