Texas Gardening: AUSTIN guys..., 1 by DaleTheGardener

DaleTheGardener wrote:
Connie, my name and my profession are the same.

There are Landscape Architects, landscapers & garden designers. And then there are gardeners. I am one of those people who comes in after the others have gone, cleans up the messes and mistakes of the other professions. I keep all those plants you bought alive & growing (or replace them with something more appropriate). Since gardeners are the last ones hired we are you usually the first to be fired when the economy shifts.

I left Austin in 1985 for San Francisco. I lost 80% of my Austin clients in a week, when the bottom fell out of the TX real estate market.

I left SF in 1998 as my situation changed again. It is politically incorrect to blame cheap migratory labor, but, it is a factor in all our lives, both positive and negative.

I was a 'snowbird' gardener for a couple summers in the Twin Cities (MN) until the tech stock bust of 2000.

I have family here and FL is still growing.

I tried TX in 2000, but, the economy was 'slow' and I was under bid on jobs. Cheap labor is a problem in my field. For most people it is all about cost. Skill, professional standards etc are not an important factor for many folks.

I had one job in San Antonio (Castle Hills) where I where I did a job planting and mulching a backyard. I spent 3 days preparing soil, grading, buying plants, planting and mulching for $500. I made less than $300. I had the client call me a couple weeks after to meet with her and a friend (he worked in the local media). They loved my work, but, he just wanted me to know that he could have had the job done with cheaper labor and that I should refund some of my wages. Yeah right.

That is the reader's digest version of my 'current events'.

I love my job, but, I am almost 60 and it is time for a new career. I have been looking for a place to set up a small wholesale grow operation. Prices and rents are very high here in FL, but, hopefully I will find a place.

I just read what I wrote above. I am not going to change it, but, it sure sounds depressing. I am not depressed. I am very happy with my life. I have lots of interesting things to do and see. I have my digital camera and I am always out on 'safrai' trying to bag another trophy. I have a very pleasant life.

This is a sunflower, it is grey>