Category: Gardener Blogs

 

Tim Keys from Eds Garden Maintenance clearing snow and gritting a front driveway

Sarah has been running her Ed’s Garden Maintenance business since January 2007, taking on one of the early franchises and over the last few years has been successfully growing her business and providing services to both private and commercial clients.

‘Having initially come from an agricultural background in Zimbabwe, moving to the UK was always going to be challenging. I was incredibly blessed during my early years to be exposed to outstanding scenery, flora and fauna. My mother was a gardening guru, and from an early age my brothers and I were planting up hanging baskets for agricultural shows, and getting involved in all sorts of entrepreneurial forays. This inspired a keen interest in gardening, horticulture and the natural world, and I came to the UK to study a BSc (Hons) in Landscape and Garden Design at Writtle College in 2002, achieving a 2.1 degree and an award for the most improved student on my course.

Starting with Ed’s was a wonderful opportunity to break into a competitive industry and take control of my earnings. It also reduced the risk of starting on my own at a rather young and inexperienced 23 years old, whilst still giving me the flexibility to develop my own angle on the business and drive growth in the direction I wanted to go.

One of my initial concerns was about coping physically with what is a very demanding manual job. The job is all about having the right tools however, and we have been encouraged to invest in top of the range equipment which makes almost any job do-able, and gives me complete reliability for my regular maintenance customers. I have also been fortunate in having a great support network within the Ed’s team, and have taken on seasonal labourers during the summer months. Last summer I took on my first full time employee, and we now have two full time employees and a couple of part timers we can call on during the busiest spells. I have concentrated on expanding the business whilst still maintaining a personal relationship with my clients, and trying to provide the same level of service they have come to expect.

We are looking to expand this year and slowly grow a team of passionate and enthusiastic garden maintenance operatives who really care and continue to learn, and slowly we will expand our portfolio of regular customers ensuring that we deliver the best possible service individually tailored to our clients’ needs and budgets. Working with a positive team of people and passionate clients has all the ingredients of a rewarding work experience.

Happy customers make it all worthwhile, and my favourite part of this job is when a customer says to me “You’ve transformed my garden, I love it!” There’s no better incentive to keep on doing what we do.’

Eds Garden Maintenance generated a lot of interest at the franchise show.

Several of the current Franchisees attended explaining their experiences and how they are getting on.

Expanding business. Sarah Whaley takes on more employees and a second vehicle to cope with the demand.

Steve Frise fom Ed’s Garden Maintenance Kingston Upon Thames evaluating a large hedge cutting and clearance job which then needs lawn turfing before the Latchmere school students’ return to work.

Ed’s Lawn Mowing services is continuing to expand with another four operators on board opening up SE London, North London, Eastbourne and extra operator to meet the demand in SW London and Middlesex. We now offer comprehensive Greater London coverage down to the South Coast and Bristol.

Congratulations to Guy Lilford who runs Ed’s Berskshire and his wife Sandy. On the 11 February 2010 Sandy gave birth to a handsome baby boy, Sean.”This is our first child and we could not have asked for a bigger blessing. We are very proud parents and are eagerly looking forward to the memories we will share with him.”

Ed’s Garden Maintenance has been invited to apply to be on Gok Wan’s ‘How to look good naked’ show. London pre-filming took place in December 2009. Watch this space!

Ed’s Garden Maintenance have found themselves removing snow and ice off driveways and walkways and applying grit and sand. If you request a free estimate one of our guys will get back to you within the hour.

Ed’s Garden Maintenance have found themselves removing snow and ice off driveways and walkways and applying grit and sand. If you request a free estimate one of our guys will get back to you within the hour.