How much do you pay to have your lawns mowed?

Bigphil1474

We pay a gardener to come once a month from spring to Autumn to FIL's house. He cuts the grass, does some weeding and general tidying up. He charges £20. 

My dad used to do all sorts for his elderly neighbours - putting bins out on bin days, doing some fixing around the house, keeping their garden tidy including mowing the lawn, picking up litter in the street etc.. Then his health deteriorated quickly (heart attack) and he could no longer do it. Most of the neighbours were fine and supportive, but he actually had a letter posted through his letter box from one neighbour complaining he hadn't cut their lawn for a long time! My tip - keep offering what you can, but don't take them for granted. I like the idea of inviting them round for dinner. 

greensalad

I pay my gardener £22 an hour every 2 weeks (3hrs).

SadieO

Bigphil1474 said:

Most of the neighbours were fine and supportive, but he actually had a letter posted through his letter box from one neighbour complaining he hadn't cut their lawn for a long time! 

That is horrendous! What a lovely guy your dad sounds and that person is a disgrace. 

OP, I wouldn't keep trying to think of gifts for him. He has already had to refuse your kindly meant offer of cake and booze and you run the risk of giving him more things he doesn't want or need - awkward for him to either have to find a polite way to decline them or be stuck with things he doesn't want. And a waste of money and effort from you! It's nice that you want to thank him and as mercenary as it sounds, cash is the best way to do that, then he can use it as he wants or even give it to charity if he really doesn't want it himself. I think £20 is fine, especially if he doesn't seem to want anything so it's not like he's gonna be thinking it should be more! Just shove a £20 in his hand, lightly say something like "I won't take no for an answer!" or "please accept this, it'll make me feel better!" and then change the subject and move on, so you don't get into any "oh I couldn't!" "oh you must!" back and forth. 

Postik

I used to pay £20 for the front and back (the back lawn was quite big).  This was a few years ago so I wouldn't be surprised if it was now £25 - £30.  The biggest problem I had was that after a couple of years people would stop doing it, and it was always a challenge to find someone new.

If your neighbour is doing it anyway and is reluctant to take the money, I would suggest £20 is a nice amount.  That would buy 3 or 4 drinks down the pub or a takeaway for 2 people which I personally would be happy with if I did 30 minutes work as a favour.

pollypenny

If he lives on his Ken why not ask him to join you for a meal. If you feel uneasy about that you could take him his meal on a plate or in a container.  

We pay our lawn man £30. It takes two of them about 20 minutes.