Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 2:21 pm
I agree, but sometimes as a landscaping 'company' it is possible to have a range of skill-sets. For example, we predominantly cover hard-landscaping, but as a company we also offer design and planting, all of which we are qualified to do, although we do not take on garden maintenance, pruning, mowing etc or civil work. I guess it would be difficult as an 'individual' to have the breadth of knowledge and skill to actually DO it all, but a lot of garden designers will know the construction requirements / constraints to build a garden using both hard and soft materials. Equally, there are paving contractors who have a great eye for making sure the paving does complement the house and environment and similarly there are builders who make a good job of paving.
I think that half the problem is that the public doesn't necessarily know the name of the trade they are after. Good old Yellow Pages has exploited this fact for years!
I remember providing materials sometime ago to a franchised lawn cutting company. The guy was laying a patio using hoggin and just hoggin. It was pouring with rain and it was like the World War 1 trenches. The more hoggin he added, the worse it got. He had also laid the paving with around two inch gaps. He was good at lawn maintenance, but shouldn't have been laying paving. He should have made the decision not to lay paving for his existing customer, but obviously didn't want to turn away the work in case he lost his maintenance contract.
In my personal opinion (hopefully not setting myself up for abuse!), I would generally classify the parallel trades as follows:
Builder - mainly vertical work,e.g. houses, walls etc
Landscaper - depends upon specialism, e.g. hard or soft materials, but could be both if different personnel have different skill-sets. 'Landscaper' often used as a term by horticulturists
Paving contractor - specialist in paving, often the fastest kid on the block when it comes to driveway paving!
Gardener - a specialist in soft garden maintenance, e.g. pruning, mowing, planting, mulching etc
Horticulturist - never seen anyone really use this term, but I would think it would suit soft landscaping specialists
I think that half the problem is that the public doesn't necessarily know the name of the trade they are after. Good old Yellow Pages has exploited this fact for years!
I remember providing materials sometime ago to a franchised lawn cutting company. The guy was laying a patio using hoggin and just hoggin. It was pouring with rain and it was like the World War 1 trenches. The more hoggin he added, the worse it got. He had also laid the paving with around two inch gaps. He was good at lawn maintenance, but shouldn't have been laying paving. He should have made the decision not to lay paving for his existing customer, but obviously didn't want to turn away the work in case he lost his maintenance contract.
In my personal opinion (hopefully not setting myself up for abuse!), I would generally classify the parallel trades as follows:
Builder - mainly vertical work,e.g. houses, walls etc
Landscaper - depends upon specialism, e.g. hard or soft materials, but could be both if different personnel have different skill-sets. 'Landscaper' often used as a term by horticulturists
Paving contractor - specialist in paving, often the fastest kid on the block when it comes to driveway paving!
Gardener - a specialist in soft garden maintenance, e.g. pruning, mowing, planting, mulching etc
Horticulturist - never seen anyone really use this term, but I would think it would suit soft landscaping specialists