What's the going rate for a gardener (particularly in SW London)?

[shurrender]

I've just taken on a gardener for the first time. I contacted a few places for quotes but got lacklustre response, so they must have been busy. Eventually I picked up a leaflet from someone who has only been in business for a few months, so we have tried him out with an initial visit. He seems to know what he's doing. He charges £30 an hour. Is this par for the course or expensive?

p.s. This is just for garden maintenance, not anything specialist.

My mum pays £25 an hour in midlands , mainly weeding , pruning, deadheading etc . No grass to cut.

My DH does gardening, landscaping, decorating etc. Rate is £190-200 a day. He’s booked solid for months.
Ironically, I’m meeting 3 other gardeners tomorrow, to quote for communal garden maintenance (we can’t just give the job to DH, as everything has to be fairly done and transparent as it goes through a Resident’s Association). I advertised on two different sites, and as you found, only a few people got in touch. It’ll be interesting to see what the quotes are tomorrow. We are SE London

@shurrender

p.s. This is just for garden maintenance, not anything specialist.

Garden maintenance done properly is specialist.

25 per hour for maintenance. SW London.

Thank you for saying this, a lot of people just don't get it.

We used to pay £20ph for a landscape specialist, he’s done lots of garden projects for us so is very skilled. We now pay £10ph for an elderly gardener who does proper gardening, pruning, shaping, feeding flowers etc. We’re in east London. We do normally top up whatever he charges but this is his rate.