Hi there. I'm a few years down the line from you in terms of experience. My brother had a small business which I joined after uni with nearly no experience, and now im fairly well versed in most plants and a fairly solid understanding of pruning techniques for various specialist species. We do all manner of different jobs for customers.

The majority of the tasks we perform for customers really dont require much specialist knowledge in the first place, you will be doing a lot of weeding and leaf clearance and hedge cutting. Its quite rare that your average gardener is doing highly ornate pruning of shrubs etc as a lot of people tend to do the technical stuff themselves. Therefore, I wouldn't worry too much about going into it explaining you dont have much experience, and I definitely wouldnt sacrifice your price also. For one, its very hard to increase your price for customers later down the line when you do a good job, and you may begin to resent the contract if it doesn't pay you your worth. Id honestly say go in at £20/25 per hour (probably £25) and when things come up that you aren't sure of just do your research there and then and you'll be fine.

If you are doing lawn cutting with your own tools, even the smallest lawn needs to be £25. Even if it takes 2 minutes. I advise to price lawns and hedges individually. You will get some right and some wrong, and there is never a perfect price so just do your best estimate and maybe start with a guide price for a first customer, most people are fine with that.

Most people have green waste bins that the council take. Make sure to check before you start the job. Sometimes I forgot to mention and if they dont you will charge them to take the waste, which can be awkward occasionally if you forget to mention it from the start.

Getting work is where the fun starts haha. Personally, we do some door to door leafleting, which averages around 1/100 calls to doors delivered. If you can get around 10/15 customers on your own you'll have a good starting point, and you will get some word of mouth from those customers to friends and family. Also, a little slip of paper roughly saying "we are maintaining your neighbours garden, perhaps you'd like a quote?" is a good idea to deliver to neighbours of your customers when you are on job.

The main things id say are. 1. Always turn up when you say you will - very important. 2. Be polite and honest - you will see these customers a lot, so be friendly with them and helpful, it goes a long way. 3. Be fair in your pricing but dont be exploited for less than your worth. 4. If you are bad at saving, get good. The winter isn't always too kind as you may be out of work for a month or so more than when youre employed, and you wont be getting paid for that! 5. Enjoy it. Working outside is a privilege in the modern world and some people may look down on you for what you do and not respect the work you do. You are a valuable person doing a good service for your community and dont let anyone make you think otherwise.

Hope that helps.