Journey
Start a gardening or landscaping business
Learning path for people starting a gardening or landscaping business. Choose how to trade, learn the rules for waste, pesticides, hedges, trees and powered tools, insure the business and agree work with customers, take on helpers, handle money and customer data, and check you have covered everything.
What this journey is for
You can start gardening for payment without a licence, but some duties apply from your first job. This journey takes you through the decisions in the order you meet them, from choosing how to trade to checking you are ready. The guides it points to hold the rules and the detail.
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Decide how you will trade
Most new gardeners and landscapers start as sole traders. A limited company separates your business from you personally, but it brings more paperwork. Settle this first, because it affects your tax, your liability and the registrations that follow.
Sole trader or limited company
Compare the two structures and choose the one that fits your plans.
Register as self-employed with HMRC
Register for Self Assessment as a sole trader. The deadline runs from when you start trading.
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Learn the rules for the work you will do
The law does not require a licence to garden for payment. It does set rules for the jobs that go with it. These jobs each bring their own duties:
- taking green waste away from a customer's site
- spraying professional weedkillers
- cutting hedges
- working on trees
- using chainsaws or strimmers
Waste, tree and hedge rules also differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Work out which of these jobs your services involve before you take bookings.
Meet your gardening and landscaping duties
Find out which rules apply to your work, from waste and pesticides to hedges, trees, invasive plants and powered tools.
Registering as a waste carrier
If you will take green waste away, follow the steps to register.
Waste carriers and hazardous waste: SEPA and NIEA rules for Scotland and Northern Ireland
If you work in Scotland or Northern Ireland, see how carrier registration works there.
Work with Tree Preservation Orders
If you will prune or fell trees, check for protection orders and conservation area rules before you cut.
Trees and hedgerows: quick reference for businesses
Look up when a felling licence or a hedgerow notice is needed.
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Get ready for the first job
You will work in customers' gardens, often with machinery, chemicals and a loaded van. Public liability cover is not a legal requirement, but most customers expect it. Household customers also have rights when you agree a job at their home, so set up your quotes and terms before the first booking.
Set up and run a safe building and landscape services operation
Cover risk assessment, hazardous substances, fire, equality and data protection before the first paid job.
Business insurance: what you need
See which cover is compulsory and which is a choice, including cover for your van.
Compliance for van and light goods vehicle operators
If you use a van to carry tools or waste, check the vehicle rules.
Quote and agree work with garden customers
Write a quote, agree terms and take a deposit, and handle a cancellation by a household customer.
Consumer rights compliance for service providers
See what customers can expect from your work and what they can ask for when it falls short.
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Take people on
Gardeners often use casual helpers or labour-only subcontractors. Whether each person is an employee, a worker or self-employed decides your insurance, pay and tax duties. If you will hire, prepare before the first person starts.
Employment status: employee, worker, or self-employed
Work out how to class each helper or subcontractor.
Before you hire your first employee
If you will hire, see what to have in place before an employee starts.
Register as an employer (PAYE)
Register with HMRC before your first payday.
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Handle money and customer data
Come back to VAT when your turnover nears the registration threshold. Voluntary registration can also suit you if you work for commercial clients. You will hold customers' names, addresses, access instructions and often photos of their gardens, so handle that data lawfully from the start.
VAT registration
Check when you must register and when registering voluntarily helps.
Data protection for businesses
Handle customer details and photos in line with data protection law.
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Check you have covered everything
Work through the checklist before you take bookings, and again when you add a service or take on staff. It covers the workplace and employment duties shared across building and landscape services. Check the gardening points against the guide in step 2, because the checklist is written for the whole sector.
Building and landscape services: compliance checklist
Confirm the shared workplace and employment duties are in place.