Things to look out for when hiring a gardener

whitesatin

when we were living in Surrey, a couple of years ago, we paid a gardening company to do the front and rear lawns. Also, to cut back where necessary, tidy etc. He came along once a fortnight from Spring and the bill was between £45 and £60 for a couple of hours.

cyclonebri1

sobie wrote: »

I do not know many gardeners that will charge less than £12p/h If you want to go cash in hand and break the law then you'll find a retired person for less.




.

That's what I said or rather inferred, I'll steer clear of the word adviced.

This thread does little more than emphasise the gap in wages and charges plotted North against South.

I only ever pass through London and the southern counties, and I take my flask and sandwiches:D

It starts just above St Albans from my experience.

I apologise if any of my comments were taken in an insulting way, but when you say £12 to £20 for a gardener you have suggested a gardener could be charging £20, even if it is the top estimate.

I'm still laughing, and so would be an awful lot of people in the general skilled trades, find a plumber/sparky/plasterer or bricky etc up here that gets anywhere near that, and I will put the cat amongst the pigeons here, a gardener is at the bottom in the pecking order when it comes to manual wage earning potential.

Mty"advice" to the op to clarify, would be to avoid a proffessional gardener for such a small labour requirement or prepare to dig deep, excuse the pun.;);)

poppysarah

dibuzz wrote: »

Some of my elderly neighbours use the same gardener. He charges £10 an hour and is so busy he can only offer each customer 1 hour a week.

Our local gardening team charge £12.50 an hour each. And you have to have both of them.

lostinrates

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

That's what I said or rather inferred, I'll steer clear of the word adviced.

This thread does little more than emphasise the gap in wages and charges plotted North against South.

I only ever pass through London and the southern counties, and I take my flask and sandwiches:D

It starts just above St Albans from my experience.

I apologise if any of my comments were taken in an insulting way, but when you say £12 to £20 for a gardener you have suggested a gardener could be charging £20, even if it is the top estimate.

I'm still laughing, and so would be an awful lot of people in the general skilled trades, find a plumber/sparky/plasterer or bricky etc up here that gets anywhere near that, and I will put the cat amongst the pigeons here, a gardener is at the bottom in the pecking order when it comes to manual wage earning potential.

Mty"advice" to the op to clarify, would be to avoid a proffessional gardener for such a small labour requirement or prepare to dig deep, excuse the pun.;);)

'General skilled trades' charge more than that around here. And I am not in the home counties.

Where a gardener ranks depends on what tPe of gardener they are. Gardeners in stately homes might be the pinnacle of the basic rung of the career but of course, some gardeners supplement their income with writing or broadcasting, selling produce, lecturing in universities, breeding and selling plants from the guy who breeds a few varieties to the people who found international businesses on it.

As we are Talking about 'jobbing' gardeners, my family experience of the well meaning retired, or well meaning young grafters, is that with out education they can cause hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth of damage in a garden.

Without knowing what op actually needs and wants then its not clear whether a man wanting a tenner to keep her lawn in decent but not bowling green condition and her hedges legal and not restrictive I don't really know how you can be so dismissive.

I am not clear where OP lives. Maybe she lives somewhere you might not even stop to open your flask!

cyclonebri1

poppysarah wrote: »

Our local gardening team charge £12.50 an hour each. And you have to have both of them.

That'll teach you to employ Jedward;);)

cyclonebri1

lostinrates wrote: »

'General skilled trades' charge more than that around here. And I am not in the home counties.

Where a gardener ranks depends on what tPe of gardener they are. Gardeners in stately homes might be the pinnacle of the basic rung of the career but of course, some gardeners supplement their income with writing or broadcasting, selling produce, lecturing in universities, breeding and selling plants from the guy who breeds a few varieties to the people who found international businesses on it.

As we are Talking about 'jobbing' gardeners, my family experience of the well meaning retired, or well meaning young grafters, is that with out education they can cause hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth of damage in a garden.

Without knowing what op actually needs and wants then its not clear whether a man wanting a tenner to keep her lawn in decent but not bowling green condition and her hedges legal and not restrictive I don't really know how you can be so dismissive.

I am not clear where OP lives. Maybe she lives somewhere you might not even stop to open your flask!

This whole thread is out of proportion, the key was in the query, a gardener for "an hr per week".

a pro gardener would simply not be bothered or charge more for attending than gardening.

And in answer to what is an essentially sensible post, I don't think too much damage could be done in that time do you.

What can the OP want doing, quick mow of a very small lawn, run round and pull the weeds or hoe, dead head the plants. Add to that getting the tools out and vice versa and that's an hr gone??

Given the highlighted bit above, I'm guessing she isn't wanting to employ a Mr Titchmarsh, good enough reasoning for my being "dismissive" of the upper end of the gardening spectrum

lostinrates

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

This whole thread is out of proportion, the key was in the query, a gardener for "an hr per week".

a pro gardener would simply not be bothered or charge more for attending than gardening.

And in answer to what is an essentially sensible post, I don't think too much damage could be done in that time do you.

What can the OP want doing, quick mow of a very small lawn, run round and pull the weeds or hoe, dead head the plants. Add to that getting the tools out and vice versa and that's an hr gone??

Given the highlighted bit above, I'm guessing she isn't wanting to employ a Mr Titchmarsh, good enough reasoning for my being "dismissive" of the upper end of the gardening spectrum

I in the whole of the spectrum of gardening I was pointing your what you saw as the pinnacle really is not.

You would be surprised how much damage a silly old codger with electric hedge trimmers who decides to give every thing a 'tidy up' can do.

Who knows, Op might have an ordinary garden with a sensitve meconopsis bed, or a collection of something senstive.

It IS highly likely you are right. That it's just basics, and I would no more advocate supporting the black market in that way (as others have argued) because it's theft. Theft from the rest of us paying taxes on PAYE or businesses. However, for a competant basic gardener Declaring the income I would have no problem hiring a retiree to mow my lawn. In fact, I have had one stripping a door for me today....but I would not have him do skilled labour for which he was not able nor insured.

sobie

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

That's what I said or rather inferred, I'll steer clear of the word adviced.

This thread does little more than emphasise the gap in wages and charges plotted North against South.

I only ever pass through London and the southern counties, and I take my flask and sandwiches:D

It starts just above St Albans from my experience.

I apologise if any of my comments were taken in an insulting way, but when you say £12 to £20 for a gardener you have suggested a gardener could be charging £20, even if it is the top estimate.

I'm still laughing, and so would be an awful lot of people in the general skilled trades, find a plumber/sparky/plasterer or bricky etc up here that gets anywhere near that, and I will put the cat amongst the pigeons here, a gardener is at the bottom in the pecking order when it comes to manual wage earning potential.

Mty"advice" to the op to clarify, would be to avoid a proffessional gardener for such a small labour requirement or prepare to dig deep, excuse the pun.;);)

I was being insulting to anyone who thinks it is right to steal by NOT declaring their income, its wrong and I hope anyone that does this is caught. if it appeared that I support the black market and would recommend that the op hired someone that wasn't declaring their earnings- I don't!

Of course I was suggesting a gardener COULD charge £20 - I think I've made my point clear.

Most electricians I know are on far more than £20 p/h and your right it does highlight the differences in North & South. And as I have also said I do not know where the OP lives.

I would say that your comments are indictative of the horticultural trade not promoting the industry well enough.

lostinrates wrote: »

I in the whole of the spectrum of gardening I was pointing your what you saw as the pinnacle really is not.

You would be surprised how much damage a silly old codger with electric hedge trimmers who decides to give every thing a 'tidy up' can do.

Who knows, Op might have an ordinary garden with a sensitve meconopsis bed, or a collection of something senstive.

It IS highly likely you are right. That it's just basics, and I would no more advocate supporting the black market in that way (as others have argued) because it's theft. Theft from the rest of us paying taxes on PAYE or businesses. However, for a competant basic gardener Declaring the income I would have no problem hiring a retiree to mow my lawn. In fact, I have had one stripping a door for me today....but I would not have him do skilled labour for which he was not able nor insured.

:T thank you, once again my views are put across in a much clearer manner than I have done (maybe I should go to bed instead of choosing 1am as a reasonable time to write on forums :rotfl: )

cyclonebri1

I have to admit my views are somewhat coloured when it comes to rates charged by any self employed or supplied trade compared to "industrial rates", ie sparkies, engineers in house plumbers etc.

Those trades in PAYE employ in my region don't earn an awful lot of money, some not even £10/hr inspite of having served apprenticeships, obtained current safety certification and working in an environment where a mistake kills a person not a clematis:cool:

There is no wonder these guys moonlight on a regular basis, they have to to make a living.

Do I advocate the black economy?, in the case of a pensioner I wouldn't have the slightest qualm in him not declaring the £2 to the chancellor out of his £10 weekly gardening wage.
And, if anyone thinks 95% of the trades that come to your house are "open and honest" in their financial records, then they are trully kidding themselves, we all know the score.:A

lostinrates

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I have to admit my views are somewhat coloured when it comes to rates charged by any self employed or supplied trade compared to "industrial rates", ie sparkies, engineers in house plumbers etc.

Those trades in PAYE employ in my region don't earn an awful lot of money, some not even £10/hr inspite of having served apprenticeships, obtained current safety certification and working in an environment where a mistake kills a person not a clematis:cool:

There is no wonder these guys moonlight on a regular basis, they have to to make a living.

Do I advocate the black economy?, in the case of a pensioner I wouldn't have the slightest qualm in him not declaring the £2 to the chancellor out of his £10 weekly gardening wage.
And, if anyone thinks 95% of the trades that come to your house are "open and honest" in their financial records, then they are trully kidding themselves, we all know the score.:A

Its not the chancellor you steal from, it's us, the country. You might feel its ok to be dishonest (and I agree, you are not alone by any means) but I do not.

It's intriguing to me that you think it's all rit for poeple to moonlight to make a living but its wrong for peoe to charge costs which would give them a reasonable living wage in some parts of the country.

Anyway, None of this helps OP.