How much does it cost to mow a lawn?

glasgowdan

Andypandyboy wrote: »

We pay £20 every two weeks for garden maintenance including mowing two lawns, edging and weeding and sweeping up. Takes him an hour, tops.

That's quite a normal rate for the cheap guys. I wouldn't work for that but I've been fully booked for years and can afford to turn down this stuff.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter how much time the gardener spends, as long as the job's done. Same as a fixed rate joiner or electrician. And trust me, a gardener has much higher running costs than any of these.

Andypandyboy

glasgowdan wrote: »

£10/hr is a joke right? Ok, £85 is a joke too. Flat rate 50m2 roughly £25 a cut. It would take me 20 mins to do, all neatly edged too.

So £75 an hour?

That is high, if people bother to work it out. Many won't actually look at time taken, just the end result.

cepheus

Actually he said it would take him 3 hours. I do it badly in about 1 hour with a cheap mower, including cleaning up the grass cuttings and trimming against walls. It's a shame the council can't do it with their large motorised mower, when they mow an adjoining part which belongs to them, it would only take them 5 minutes. At £10 a go that seems a steal.

This US site estimates $0.03 - $0.15 per square foot over there, so that's around £10 to £50 for 50 m2. That sounds about right.

glasgowdan

Andypandyboy wrote: »

So £75 an hour?

That is high, if people bother to work it out. Many won't actually look at time taken, just the end result.

Of course it is, professional people have to earn a living, and this type of work is seasonal. A gas guy might typically charge £60 for a callout and only take 20 minutes. That's £180 an hour, if that's your way of thinking.

Assuming he can fit in a non stop stream of jobs without any travelling.

baza52

being a gas safe engineer and cutting grass is hardly like for like skill though is it.

Davesnave

baza52 wrote: »

being a gas safe engineer and cutting grass is hardly like for like skill though is it.

It could be, easily, if the person concerned is an all-round gardener/landscaper.

One doesn't have to be Einstein to do either job, but both are worthy of college courses and apprentice-type training.

Also, very few people here are allowing for travelling, servicing and replacing kit.

baza52

The OP wants their grass cut. Are you seriously saying you need to go to college or do an apprenticeship to do it?

We are talking a petrol lawnmower and a strimmer or shears.
My petrol self propelled mower uses less than a gallon of petrol per year and a service consists of new oil and a spark plug and air filter. (about a tenner)

Even a window cleaner with a bucket, ladder and chamois have expenses and to clean a house could take just as long as cutting the grass, especially if using a full size mower rather than a home type one.
Would you pay a window cleaner the same rate?

For landscape gardening services I would expect to pay more than just grass cutting.

glasgowdan

Some people still have prehistoric opinions on what certain occupations deserve to earn.

As i said, a pro gardener has much higher running costs than a plumber so his rates need to cover this. I spent thousands on training and certification and my rates allow me a comfortable lifestyle. I've been fully booked for years, so there are plenty people who appreciate the value they get and don't undermine my services by trying to calculate hourly rates.

Any customers who do get dropped in an instant. :-)

Davesnave

baza52 wrote: »

The OP wants their grass cut. Are you seriously saying you need to go to college or do an apprenticeship to do it?

I don't believe I did that, but if you can show me where I did, I'd be delighted to amend my post.

I merely pointed out that some 'gardeners' come with qualifications and considerable overheads. Others certainly don't; hence very different qualities of work and services.

ukclare

How about one of the neighbours (older) children - I am sure they would be happy to give the lawn a once-over every week for a tenner! Although they wouldn't be up to professional standard they would certainly save your back!:rotfl: