Garden Makeover pics

[Stripes]

I have started doing one off makeovers again due to all the rain in Sydney over Summer and irrigation is dead. I did my first one this week. Budget was 2k although it needed more than that, I could only do so much.

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[Stripes]

A few more.
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[PaulG]

Came up well! Nice and tidy.

[Andy B]

Nice work stripes, bet the customer was happy when they came home and saw it!

[Sunshinelawns]

Looks great stripes. I bet they were impressed!!

[Mrs HMS]

Nice work Stripes. Looks great, neat and tidy - a huge improvement.

One thing I did think when I saw that sagging fence in the background...would a centre rail have been such a drama?

[Stripes]

Thanks people.
I haven't actually heard back from the client yet. It's a rental property and I'm expecting them to check it out over the weekend. I finished it on Wednesday.

A few more pics from the front. I don't know what this plumber was thinking but I had to try and cover up his bodginess.
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[Stump]

Came up nice Stripes.
I have done a couple over the last few weeks. No pics unfortunately. I had one unit where the lady had blackberry completely filled her courtyard level to the fence. I had to start the hedge trimmer up inside and firstly cut it off the back door so I could open it, then slowly slay my way inward, while the sidekick raked, ripped and binned it through the inside of the unit, and into the trailer. After a good slaying and some detail work, we threw some long planter boxes around the yard filled with herbs and flowers, and then screened off the adjoining unit with some bamboo. She was so happy that she gave me a hundred extra, above the 650 quote, and went on to tell me that she had called 5 other contracters who ran for the door when they saw it lol. Not bad coin for 2 and a quarter hours work.

[63impala]

Looks Farkin A man....

[IanC]

Did this garden makeover today. It was hard work and took me 6 hours. I won't say what I charged, but would like to know what would you guys have charged. For your info, it involved alot of pruning, trimming hedges, clean up, including rubbish removal and mulching. Just interested whether you would charge an hourly rate or job amount. I'm just starting out so am keen to obatin guidance from you guys with years of experience. General thoughts on how you think the job has come out!4656465546574658

[Back to Basics]

I would quote the job lot. How much mulch did you use etc. Say it took six hours at $60hr + 2m of mulch at $70 a meter depending on type of mulch and local prices. Making sure if you picked it up you add your time in as a delivery fee. As a rough guess including tip fees $600ish?

[ian]

always hard to guess from photos but i'll go the $600-$800 depending on quantity of mulch

[PaulG]

Nice job IanC. It turned out very well.

I won't comment on labour prices here either but to me that looks like about two and a half to three hours of pruning, hand-weeding and cleanup. Add time to purchase, deliver and spread mulch (looks like around 2.5 to 3 m3?) - about another one and a half hours, and a final once-over of everything, say half an hour. I'd have been in it for about 5 hours but generally will quote an extra hour on top for dumping greenwaste and invariably there is always something unforeseen or that takes a bit longer than originally thought.

If my quantities are close and going on mulch prices here, it could have been around $210 for mulch alone (at cost).

[Stripes]

Nice job IanC. Big difference!

Little makeover I did yesterday and today for a very good friend of mine.
There was a pine tree hedge there before that a tree guy removed and ground the stumps, then I took over.

Found a pipe in the garden which was fed from the only tap which is on the other side of the driveway so was able to install sprinklers as well.

[Bluey]

Join Indy Ian C if you want some feed back like this and post in the members area. I wont give out infpo like this anymore. Sorry mate too many lurkers and spongers.

[AJD Mowing]

Nice job IanC. Big difference!

Little makeover I did yesterday and today for a very good friend of mine.
There was a pine tree hedge there before that a tree guy removed and ground the stumps, then I took over.

Found a pipe in the garden which was fed from the only tap which is on the other side of the driveway so was able to install sprinklers as well.
Looks like you have a cylinder mower? Looks great mate..

[Stripes]

Looks like you have a cylinder mower? Looks great mate..

Thanks mate.
My mate where I was working has a cylinder mower (ex indie) so I gave the lawn a cut when everything else was finished. His lawn is very nice to cut. I used to do a lot of cylinder mowing when I was doing lawns and used to be called "Stripes Lawnmowing". Had enough of mowing and gardening so went back to irrigation. Our wet summer killed irrigation, so now doing one off makeovers until irrigation picks up again!

[AJD Mowing]

Hey Admin I was thinking today if you ever do another competition I have an idea :confused:
I notice how pationate people here are about their gardening projects and it got me thinking what about an award?
What about if once a year you put on an award for photos/videos put on here listed in different categories like, Mowing, Gardening, etc?
Imagine if you had some sponsors like Honda, Shindy, Sthil etc..
Picture it: The Winner of the 2012 ILCOA for The Best Gardening Job Is ......... Proudly sponsored by Honda

The winner could get a Sticker for their Car/Trailer, a certificate that can be used in their advertising, and the sponsor could throw in a mower or something.

Everyone would win. ILCOA would get more coverage to householders
Contractors who won would be elivated to a higher level in the eyes of the public.
Sponsors would love the oportunity I think for something like this...
Everyone would want to show off their beautiful work...

I know you are still seithing from the $1,000.00 flop but when you calm down maybe give this some thought :scared

[AJD Mowing]

Thanks mate.
My mate where I was working has a cylinder mower (ex indie) so I gave the lawn a cut when everything else was finished. His lawn is very nice to cut. I used to do a lot of cylinder mowing when I was doing lawns and used to be called "Stripes Lawnmowing". Had enough of mowing and gardening so went back to irrigation. Our wet summer killed irrigation, so now doing one off makeovers until irrigation picks up again!

How did you get on with that guy who owed you a motsa before Xmas? Was that you or am I thinking of someone else??

[Stripes]

How did you get on with that guy who owed you a motsa before Xmas? Was that you or am I thinking of someone else??

Yeah that was me. Nothing doing with it yet. The company went broke, so no dough. Trying to negotiate with council at the moment to at least finish the job, but I can't say too much on the open forum!

[Beaj]

Did this garden makeover today. It was hard work and took me 6 hours. I won't say what I charged, but would like to know what would you guys have charged. For your info, it involved alot of pruning, trimming hedges, clean up, including rubbish removal and mulching. Just interested whether you would charge an hourly rate or job amount. I'm just starting out so am keen to obatin guidance from you guys with years of experience. General thoughts on how you think the job has come out!4656465546574658

Ian, I still struggle to quote for this type of work, so I generally go for an hourly rate plus costs etc. If I'm mowing I try for the magic $1 a minute if I can, which averages me about $60 and hour, but then
there is travelling time between jobs. For jobs like this, because I'm not travelling for the day I will work on $50 an hour. Some clients bawk at the hourly rate but I have found most are pretty
accepting of it. So you would be looking at $300 for labour and then your material cost and dumping costs if any.

BTW, the bark looks a bit thin on the ground. I like to go about 75mm deep if I can,
as apparently this is best for weed control and also allows moisture to penetrate(so I've been told).
Hope this helps Ian,
Brad.

[DavidS]

Did a garden makeover at Nursing home the other day, everyone happy and residents relatives keep commenting on it. I will be overhauling it again next month.

[Back to Basics]

Great job, but can you tell me the secret of getting the flowers to appear at the end of the job for pictures!!!!!!!!!!!

[DavidS]

Actually the other day was two months ago when I pruned and stripped the garden and replanted. I then took photos last week to show the difference, very hard to get that sort of affect with a straight planting. You can get a sort of effect with buying plants aready in flower but the roses!!
I am overhauling the garden next month to fix up the fountain and the water leak in the pond, also to add more plants to the circle.

[PaulG]

Nice result David!

[ian]

generally Roses are about 6 weeks between pruning and flowering except for the winter prune

[DavidS]

It's 61 days from pruning to flowering in Spring, Summer and Autumn.

[GardenGuy]

It's great to see some really lovely work. Doubtless, the customers are satisfied, especially at such good rates.

Cheers - GardenGuy.

[Redeye]

nice work David!

[ian]

you must be in a cooler area than me David

ROSES
larger varieties such as hybrid teas, grandifloras, and floribundas, have an average bloom cycle of 42 to 54 days. Miniature roses generally have a shorter bloom cycle, around 35 to 42 days. Usually, single-petalled roses have a faster repeat cycle. For example, 'Playboy' and 'Playgirl' are always the first floribundas to bloom, since they repeat in about 35 days, whereas the floribundas '***y Rexy' and 'Europeana' take about 54 to 60 days to repeat.

Iceberg roses

by: TWIG: Helen Young
From: The Australian
June 28, 2008 12:00AM

How can I manage my burgundy iceberg roses to ensure the best display next Easter?

(Judy McGuiness, Perth)

Iceberg roses should flower six to seven weeks after pruning, depending on the weather. So prune them by one-third to half between February20 and 27, feed them with rose fertiliser, compost and manures, and keep well watered. Regular doses of Seasol increase vigour and disease resistance. Before then, they need a hard winter prune in July and generous fertilising inspring.

[DavidS]

Yeah, I have read that to but if you work on 61 days then you will always have a flush of blooms when you want them, it's what most gardeners at race tracks work on.

[DavidS]

Yeah, I have read that to but if you work on 61 days then you will always have a flush of blooms when you want them, it's what most gardeners at race tracks work on. I went and talked to the gardener at Murrumbidgee Racecourse when I was attending TAFE and he informed me that was what they work on. Otherwise refer to Ian's information for minature

[PaulG]

I've always worked on 6 weeks (42 days) before our September Carnival of Flowers here but might try 8 weeks this year as at least that would ensure having blooms open as well as some buds still coming on. 6 weeks has always been touch and go and 8 weeks will be too due to frosts.

[imoww]

Just a quick one hour job last week.
More to come tho....
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[PaulG]

Tidy work.

Hard to tell but the first two two pics look like there's some Winter Grass poking through there.

[imoww]

No winter grass.... The whole garden bed was removed and resoiled......

[Fred's mowing]

Very tidy imoww, just a little aprehensive re gravel/stones so close to turf.
Zoom in & u can already see a few bullets.
cheers Fred.

[PaulG]

No winter grass.... The whole garden bed was removed and resoiled......


I meant in the lawn - not the garden bed ;)

[imoww]

Thanks guys.
Paul G... Yes. there is winter grass. Now all gone.
Fred's.... Yep. a few bullets were removed shortly after the pic was taken.....

[imoww]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMGciQBXLKY&feature=youtu.be

[geoff]

imoww , i love making movies but like to know what movie maker programmes you use and any one else out their.....ahh the movies are Christmas light shows and grand kids thank you for any one thats wondering lol

[geoff1969]

imoww , i love making movies but like to know what movie maker programmes you use and any one else out their.....ahh the movies are Christmas light shows and grand kids thank you for any one thats wondering lol

not real up to date with it all geoff but i had about 10 minutes of video on my phone = i just downloaded it into computer with usb cable , put it in its own folder then opened it with windows movie maker ......

[geoff]

yep ive used that movie maker doesnt like HD on my computor...prevoius chrissy show light ive used my daughters apple which does movies well ...looked at a lot of programmes online upward of 300 bucks...maybe i should be keeping it simple stupid lol....just that you can get some really cool programmes that really make good movies....aplle have a great one for movie previews like you see at the movies

[courty]

yep ive used that movie maker doesnt like HD on my computor...prevoius chrissy show light ive used my daughters apple which does movies well ...looked at a lot of programmes online upward of 300 bucks...maybe i should be keeping it simple stupid lol....just that you can get some really cool programmes that really make good movies....aplle have a great one for movie previews like you see at the movies

just get fruity Geoff,you know you want to:o

Yep I have a Mac

[geoff]

yeah u are probably right courty ...we have iphones ipads and maybe mac is next ..is great for pics and movies hey ???

[geoff]

so courty what do u use for a movie programme on the mac...me mrs tell me we have a lap top mac ( son in laws a computor geek techo and gave us one ) so what way do i go mate

[courty]

Geoff
I just use iMovie that the Macs come with.
I have not done a lot of video but we had hours and hours of footage from a family trip to the States a couple of years back and the job fell on me to put it all together. Once I got into it mate it was pretty easy,the software is really easy to navigate. Search the apple site for tutorials.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/movies/

[imoww]

Hi Geoff. I use iMovie on a Mac.....

[imoww]

My other business is in computer graphics, so I use the Mac's programmes all the time..

[imoww]

I finally did this job....
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[geoff1969]

I finally did this job....
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looks much cleaner imoww
cheers

[PaulG]

Nice job. What was your method?

[imoww]

Weeding first. ( By hand and Dutch hoe)
Spraying Roundup
Dug the ditches for the paved stones and concreted them in.
laid new the weed mat.
Then the River stones poured in. (Cowra white)

[imoww]

Thanks guys. I still have to return to clean the pavers up and place a bit more stones into the area.

[Fred's mowing]

I finally did this job....
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Imoww, bit of constructive critisism. Not trying to be a smartie!
Looks from the pic that the steppers r a little too low & the pebbles will eventually & contiuously roll down on top of them.
If that happens it will turn into a continuous maintenance chore & may even be unsafe.
I think where there are stepping stones & pebbles, the steppers must be marginally higher.
Might just be the pic?
I take no credit 4 the job( as I did'nt do it) but I thought I'd post from a job today a similar situation with the steppers a tad higher.
Even still, the smaller pebbles were marginally spilling over the steppers.
Again, just constructive critisism.5191
Cheers Fred.