We [as a company] did not do maintenance for any of our customers. And, for the most part, caring for their gardens was the responsibility of the owner. Some of them, of course, hired someone to perform maintenance. And some of those clients gardens received very good care.
Most of those who did not find a reputable maintenance crew ended up doing it themselves. These were clients I liked the most. They eventually realized no-one would care as much as they did and at that point they stopped being clients and started being gardeners.
With regard to this particular project the "maintenance" man was me. I would go there early in the morning and work for an hour or two before going to the office. And I gardened there on Sunday because it was better than church.
Almost every Sunday morning when I was there I would see the Mom run out the door with her daughter close behind. She would be saying, "Come on, honey, we're going to be late to church!" The daughter asked me once in a while if I would like to go to church with them and I always replied, "Oh honey, when I'm in a garden I'm in church." On one occasion they ran out the door, the daughter commented on me going with them and I replied just as I had before. The daughter suddenly put on the brakes and said, "I want to go to church with John!" Mom gave me the cold shoulder for two weeks because of that.
So many people over the years have told me, "Oh, I can't grow anything. I do not have a green thumb." They say that and then they give up.
Daniel J. Hinkley is a well respected horticulturist and plant explorer who responded to that kind of attitude with a better attitude. He said, "I never give up on a plant until I've killed it three times!"
So-----------Don't give up !!!
