Good news for people who are waiting for bad news

Morena everybody! We have been out working in this weather, yes, but there isn’t a whole lot that can be done in the pouring rain, and I know you can’t be motivated to join us- also across the world some people are enjoying beautiful weather! So this week I thought I would give you some updates and fun facts to prove my noggin is still ticking over (barely, but it is).

We are hiring a new Office Administrator

Those who get our gardening services probably know how frustrated I am at this point, partly because we tried using Afirmo, a new accounting software, for 10 months until I ragequit (try sending someone an account if I am unable to generate a statement; try sending someone an invoice if the maths/total charge is incorrect, no I am not kidding).

We have gotten a tonne of applicants, but what I am still looking for is someone who is like the rest of us. When we hire gardeners, there are always a handful of applications where someone is shouting at the screen, saying that this is the role they have wanted forever, they love gardening, they will work well and learn quickly! When we hire administrators, I can’t even work out what is going on half the time. I don’t know why I should believe someone whose Cover Letter essentially says, “I can do this,” and no more. My business coach says that it’s ok to not be any good at hiring administrators, which is a relief.

In frustration, to one of our applicants (who asked if it was a contractor role) I responded,

This is an employee role. We would really like someone to get really stuck in and have a hand in the other various projects that we have going on- long term and growing in the role is what we are after. I have found that contractors have less buy in. Our general motto is that we treat people well, pay them well, listen to them and they stick around. That's the problem with this role- because it is so part time, and I am experienced at hiring gardeners (not office staff) I am trying to find an absolute gold nugget of a person who eventually manages our online shop and does all sorts.

She replied with a brief spiel about what is actually going on for her, her goals going forward, and she went from being someone who I suspected was a Virtual Assistant to the top of our shortlist. I’m getting someone external to manage the interviews, as someone who is genuinely excited about her job I am an awful hiring manager, because it turns out that there are people who are not genuinely excited about theirs, and I’m not allowed to hold that against them. If you are interested you could take a look here. If you want me to roast your CV (jokes, provide some tips) I am generally also happy to do so, because I see so many! Hit me up :)

The jasmine species set seeds this year

This is quite unusual so I thought I would note it! I see them every 4 years or so.

Check out the cute lil guys- they remind me of Chromosomes.

Plants set seed for a variety of reasons but there is generally an environmental trigger- a set amount of sun and warmth, usually. Jasmine sit on that lovely little teetering precipice where some Summers are perfect for them, but most don’t inspire seed setting.

This is a good time to remind you that if you can do anything to reduce your carbon footprint, even if it is just being noisy and buying a bicycle, please do so! Consider that some natives are not setting seed most years, because they don’t get the right combination of chill, sun, heat and rain. Our forests are at real risk, as are some of these species.

Splitting liriope

At this time of year the liriope all look tired. Snails get in and eat the leaves-

The easiest way to deal with this, because pulling out individual leaves takes an age, is to dig up your liriope, slice it into 2-3 pieces with the spade, and select one of the chunks to replant. Pull out the manky leaves before replanting (much easier)- sit down with a cuppa and do it because it will take about 20 minutes- and then plant the liriope back in its spot.

You then have 2 new liriope to plant or give away, depending on the audience you may need to tidy those ones as well!

A better person would have cleared the leaf litter for this photo, but it comes down in bucketsful- we clear about 8 bags of leaves from this property a week, year round.

Two roses

Last year I spent an age on this rose, which I decided I would prune ‘like a w**ker’ and made sure every little gap was nicely filled. I left the tiny shoots. I got it covering the fence so carefully, nothing touching, no real gaps. And it was beautiful. The client (who didn’t notice the prune) told me how lovely it was all year.

Here we are at season’s end

Now let’s look at the other climber, which was pruned the more normal/less fussy way, nothing rubbing/dead/diseased/damaged, taking off the little shoots, cutting back to the leaders-

The gaps! The crossovers! The general lack of vigour! And a general note that if anything this rose gets more sun- they are beside one another in the same soil.

I’m honestly a bit surprised. So I suppose we will be taking more time and leaving more on next time (and tying lots of shoots into place so they don’t hit one another).

Some people prune their roses almost to the ground every year (not climbers, obviously). Some do the more californian method of only taking off a third and leaving them quite tall. Lately I have enjoyed vascillating between both- cutting less vigorous roses far down so they spring back, and seeing how far I can get by mostly leaving roses on walls/trellises.

How are you going with your roses? A bit early, but most of us are getting fidgety and starting on them. I think it’s cold enough!

Have a good week everyone!