How much would a Gardener cost?

blueeye

I need to get a gardener to come in once a week as I have just simply run out of time to keep it in order, not that its a fantastic garden but someone to do the mowing and weeding and cutting back etc.

How much do should I pay someone to do this?

Ken68

Once the garden has been tidied up, once a fortnight would be OK.
And nowadays probably £10 an hour,for a professional set-up.
Unless you can find a nearby old codger to do it for beer money.
The problem is getting rid of the rubbish, so a compost heap would be useful.
You can DIY but the garden needs to be , say all grass and no shrubs that need pruning.
Bulbs can go in pots.
The very worst scenario for a working gardener is an herbaceous border with roses and bulbs below and in front of a hedge that needs clipping twice a year, and with restricted access. Nightmare. There is a lot that owners can do to make life easier for themselves and the help.

elsien

My gran pays £10 an hour, but I think that's someone doing her a favour, I know others who pay a bit more. The problem we've found is that it's easy to find someone to come and do a bit of mowing/one off garden clearance, but finding someone who is prepared to do the weeding, pruning etc on a regular basis has been quite difficult.

blueeye

Luckily or maybe not that lucky, the dog has destroyed all the plants with his wild puppy ways. I have a compost bin, so that parts covered. Its really just controlling next doors blackberry bush and cutting the grass, and clearing the ever-present bindweed.

So it looks as though it would be £10 an hour for a few hours every couple of weeks or find an old codger ;-)

tanith

I know someone who just has her lawns front and back mowed and it costs £20 every fortnight... it only takes him about 45 mins

elsien

If it's straightforward attacking stuff, is there not a local teenager who's desperate for a bit of extra cash?

savingmummy

My husband used to do a couple of gardens and charged £10 an hour. He used his own tools and took all the bagged rubbish with him.
Sadly the jobs didnt last and his now struggling to find jobs like this.

I would ask around local to you, there may be a neighbours teenager who would help out for some extra pocket money, Maybe an ad in the local newsagents for any retired men looking for a bit of pocket money too.

blueeye

savingmummy wrote: »

My husband used to do a couple of gardens and charged £10 an hour. He used his own tools and took all the bagged rubbish with him.
Sadly the jobs didnt last and his now struggling to find jobs like this.

I would ask around local to you, there may be a neighbours teenager who would help out for some extra pocket money, Maybe an ad in the local newsagents for any retired men looking for a bit of pocket money too.

Cheers for that, I'll put an ad in the local newsagents and see who would like to take it on board.:)

System

I live up the road from a chip shop and there's often adverts like this in there- my brother (now aged 17) used to do odd jobs and fortnightly mowing when he was younger and it was really useful for his pocketmoney! I'd well reccomend seeing if your local takeaway puts up adverts or if there's a community centre. He used to do this for £4 an hour (he was under 16 at the time). I'd guess you could get a teenager to do it for minimum wage no bother .

Mayflower10cat

It depends how skilled the work is; do you really need 'a Gardener' or just a handyman or a retired person, or student, desperate for some cash?! 10 years ago I worked as a Gardener, I didn't charge enough per hour I know, but I had lots of lovely older ladies who adored their gardens and were very happy for a female Gardener to come in and do the more skilled jobs, like pruning, planting up baskets & tubs etc. We'd chat a lot and it was a lovely way to make some great friends. Some of them also had 'a little man' who did the mowing & took (my) rubbish to the tip. At the time I charged £5 an hour.... The 'little man' was being paid £8 an hour... However my ladies would press almost twice as much on me, though often I'd give it back, one way or another (expensive plant gift...!!)

To mow the lawn only, £10 an hour is pretty damn good going. For the mower, wow! I think you'd need to negotiate for that 'Job' and perhaps find a 'proper gardener' for anything over and above simple debris removal/edging.

My neighbours here used to employ a Gardener. He'd come for one day a week (about 7 hrs) he'd mow and prune and weed as directed & take away the rubbish to the tip. He cost them about £100 for a visit........!!!

Vibrant

I garden for a living and charge £12 for one hour, or £10 per hour, for two, or more hours. Some customers specify the jobs they want completing, but most just let me use my own initiative and I do anything that needs doing.
I would agree with other posters, that once tidy, once a fortnight should be sufficient, unless you are very particular about the lawn.

It's not a bad way to make a living, however I am rather soft like Mayflower10cat and "waste" a lot of my own time on growing plants, because I like the gardens I look after to be nice.
Local magazines are good for finding a gardener and the Post Office often has advert cards.