Price for Planting new Flowers & Shrubs

dmck

Could someone give me an idea on the costs to get someone in to plant our new flower beds, we have already bought the flowers and shrubs. There are 51 in total ranging in size from small to medium at best, the 2 beds are 7m long and 6m long. The beds will be rotovated and prepared except for fertiliser etc. The garden centre also prepared a plating plan. The price we got from the garden centre (who recommended someone) seems excessive at 500euro although this was a guesstimate from her end as the guy she was recommending hasn’t seen the job (he's dropping by tomorrow), any thoughts? Also can anyone recommend someone good to do the job?


ta

GreeBo

Damn, I would do it for half that!
It sounds like most of the work has already gone ahead

magicbastarder

if i read your post right, all you're paying to be done is fertilising and planting?

byrnemx

what area are u in? i could recommend some landscapers

dmck

Thanks for the replies,
Yeah I had a feeling I was been ripped, thought their might be something gardening related that I was missing, now I know I’ll stay clear of that price for sure.


magicbastarder - yes all work in the garden has been done by myself. I would plant them myself but I paid allot of money for them and I don’t want to make a mess of it.

byrnemx - I'm in Dublin, if you could recommend someone I’d appreciate it.

Thanks again.

magicbastarder

it's not that hard to plant them yourself.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Having done all the work to date it's madness not to plant them yourself. You have the hard bit done. As a general rule, make sure the hole is big enough and plant to the level the tree/shrub was at in the container. Go on have a go!

crosstownk

I'd have to agree with others - go ahead and do it yourself. Once you have a rough idea of the average height and spread of each plant you can plant them according to whatever effect you ultimately hope to achieve.

secman

Only thing about having a go at it yourself would be to be aware of full height and spread of all he shrubs when fully grown. This should be taken into account when positioning the various shrubs. It would be very easy to make a mess of it. But it can be done if you get a better understanding of it, makes it a bit more intersting too. Good luck

Secman

GreeBo

if he has a planting plan then this should all be taken care of...plant em yourself and enjoy a job well done by yourself.

looksee

You really should do it yourself, you will do it more carefully than somebody you pay. If you want detailed instructions read this through but don't panic, I've given a lot of detail but its really not difficult.

Stand each pot in several inches of water for 10 to 15 minutes before planting, to make sure they are well soaked (have them soaking while you are preparing the holes, do 4 or 5 at a time.
Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot, throw in some damp potting compost a couple of double handfulls will do, and stir it with your spade or trowel to mix with the clay. This encourages the roots to leave the pot compost and grow into the surrounding soil.
I would put a half gallon of water into the bottom of the hole at this stage, but if the ground is damp it wont matter too much.
Remove the pot- put your hand flat across the top of the pot with your fingers either side of the stalk. Turn up and ease the pot off. You might have to tap the edge of the pot on something to persuade it to come off. If a lot of roots are through the holes in the bottom you might have to break it off.
Stand the plant in the hole, the top of the soil should be level with the surrounding soil.
If big roots are going round and round, try and unwrap them a bit, if lots of fine roots have made a solid mat, scrape at them a bit to open them up.
Backfill the hole with soil and firm gently (use your foot but don't stomp it).
Unless you have trees you won't need stakes. Water the soil round each plant generously through the summer (not little dribbles, that brings the roots to the surface).
Cover the surface of the bed with woodchip to keep in the moisture and discourage weeds. You may need to slug-proof some of the plants, but thats a whole different story!

dmck

looksee,
thank you, i will give it a go.

Ta