Garden maintenance - cost per hour?

boots_babe

Hi all,

We are looking at getting a gardener in a couple of times a month, just to do general gardening maintenance. We've not had one before, so just wanted to gauge what a typical hourly rate might be. Would people mind sharing?

We are in Lancashire if the region makes any difference.

Many thanks.

[Deleted User]

Down south its around £20 an hour.

Ebe_Scrooge

Depends a lot on whether you want a proper "gardener" who really knows what they're doing and knows all about every type of plant, how to cure lawn problems etc., or just a teenager who's capable of doing a spot of mowing

Kind of a halfway-house, there's a couple of folk in our village who I'd call "keen amateurs" - no formal gardening qualifications, but they know enough to be able to look after most plants, make a good job of hedge trimming and such-like, they charge £12 an hour.

Misslayed

We have a chap who couldn't stand teaching any longer, he keeps us tidy, two hours a fortnight. He says he's never been happier.  Charges £15/hour in Dorset. Mr M prunes all the roses (we have 37 plants!) and cuts/strims the grass. 

TELLIT01

I would say anything up to £20 per hour is not unreasonable.  If somebody has formal qualification, possibly more.

Eldi_Dos

If you have a local British Legion or United Services club pop in and ask if they would put your details on the noticeboard, might find someone looking for a bit of exercise and a couple of extra bob.

Brie

Misslayed said:

We have a chap who couldn't stand teaching any longer, he keeps us tidy, two hours a fortnight. He says he's never been happier.  Charges £15/hour in Dorset. Mr M prunes all the roses (we have 37 plants!) and cuts/strims the grass. 

I'd love to see your garden!  Love roses!!!  Wish Mr B would prune and cut!!

But for the OP - Local Nextdoor site regularly has people offering gardening.  One who did not claim to have any qualifications was asking £15 an hour.  I decided instead to go for the guys that do the neighbour's a couple of times a month.  2 chaps and it's £18 each an hour if it's at least monthly otherwise £20 each.  Plus £10 for each honking skip bag of trimmings.  I've had them for a one off of 4 hours costing me £190 and am seriously pleased with the result.  They'll be back mid May.  And I've bought a rose for them to put in!!  (Compassion - climber to go on the fence)

boots_babe

Thanks for all the replies, that's really helpful. Good point by Ebe_Scrooge - we want someone who has a decent idea what they're doing. They don't need to be full of qualifications but certainly to have some general gardening knowledge.

My husband loves gardening and I hate it, but as we have a large garden we want to get someone in to help with the more boring tasks, and my husband will still be an active gardener. We'll mow the lawn ourselves, it's more someone to weed, prune, deal with any issues that arise.

The comments are really helpful, the person we were considering using is £25 per hour, so sounds very much at the very expensive end of the scale. Perhaps we will look a little more and find someone more mid-range.

Many thanks.

Risteard

boots_babe said:

Thanks for all the replies, that's really helpful. Good point by Ebe_Scrooge - we want someone who has a decent idea what they're doing. They don't need to be full of qualifications but certainly to have some general gardening knowledge.

My husband loves gardening and I hate it, but as we have a large garden we want to get someone in to help with the more boring tasks, and my husband will still be an active gardener. We'll mow the lawn ourselves, it's more someone to weed, prune, deal with any issues that arise.

The comments are really helpful, the person we were considering using is £25 per hour, so sounds very much at the very expensive end of the scale. Perhaps we will look a little more and find someone more mid-range.

Many thanks.

£25ph for a self-employed worker could hardly be described as being as a "very expensive end of the scale". I suspect many here are injecting a degree of unreality into your expectations.

boots_babe

Risteard said:

boots_babe said:

Thanks for all the replies, that's really helpful. Good point by Ebe_Scrooge - we want someone who has a decent idea what they're doing. They don't need to be full of qualifications but certainly to have some general gardening knowledge.

My husband loves gardening and I hate it, but as we have a large garden we want to get someone in to help with the more boring tasks, and my husband will still be an active gardener. We'll mow the lawn ourselves, it's more someone to weed, prune, deal with any issues that arise.

The comments are really helpful, the person we were considering using is £25 per hour, so sounds very much at the very expensive end of the scale. Perhaps we will look a little more and find someone more mid-range.

Many thanks.

£25ph for a self-employed worker could hardly be described as being as a "very expensive end of the scale". I suspect many here are injecting a degree of unreality into your expectations.

That's why I was posting on here. I had no expectations whatsoever, I've never hired a gardener before, and have no idea what a reasonable rate would be. Based on the replies so far, £25 is above anything others are paying, even down south where I'd expect things to cost more.

I realise the replies are only a small snapshot so are not necessarily reliable, but I have nothing else to go on. 

Interested to hear more views to help me gauge better. I'm willing to pay whatever is necessary to get a decent gardener, it's just that I don't know what rates they command.

Many thanks.

Eldi_Dos

A retired guy with a bit of gardening knowhow who pops round a couple of times a month and uses your tools and equipment will have completely different overheads than someone  who has to pay for a van and a load of expensive equipment.I know which one I would be looking for.