With the warmer weather comes an influx of requests for gardening missions. Not a competent gardener, I carefully chose one I was confident I could do – cutting back brambles. Give me some secateurs and I can happily hack away for an hour or so, so I packed my gloves and confidently set off to Mr M’s. It turns out I’ve been to Mr M’s before, he had a couple of visits from Goodgym for his garden last year - his wife sadly has cancer and he himself suffers with health issues, and strenuous tasks put him at risk of being unable to take care of his wife.

I arrived ready and raring to tackle a mass of brambles, when Mr M corrected me that it wasn’t brambles he needed help with, but general gardening. Uh oh. We had a quick discussion about my capabilities – and limitations! – and agreed on some basic tasks. I mowed 3 grassy areas, 2 in the front garden, and the lovely large lawn in the back, then hacked down some trees which were getting unmanageably tall. I was glad to get to hack something (I even used a saw!) and Mr M was delighted with the difference, telling me this meant his wife could now use the garden and his grandchildren would be able to play on the lawn. We were both pleased to put his green bin to good use, it had sat empty for several months and I left it over 2/3rds full. Mr M clearly enjoys taking care of his home and was frustrated not to be able to do these tasks himself, but we agreed it wasn’t worth the risk of worsening his health issues and not being able to care for his wife.

Despite the miscommunication I was able to help Mr M & his wife. Next time we’ll assign this one to a more competent gardener!