Gardener's hourly rate query

[Miggymoggymugwumps]

My elderly parents have just got a gardener (a one man band not a company) as Dad can't manage the upkeep of it nowadays.. They have a an average sized rectangle back garden & a small front garden.
Anyway I've just found out that this guy has been charging them £70 every ten days to mow those 2 lawns, which they say takes him less than an hour. I visited today and saw he'd just been and it was frankly a rubbish job, a really basic cut, no strimming, or edging, & with bits missed etc all for £70!!!!
I am outraged at what he's been charging them but before I tackle him I thought I'd better get an idea of what others are paying in case I'm completely out of touch on what gardeners cost these days!

£25 per person per hour. Surrey.

My Dad pays £17.50 per hour for his gardener. He comes every other week for 2 hours. He mows the front and back lawns, edges them, does some weeding, cleaned the patio one time. Obviously doesn’t do all the jobs every visit, but keeps on top of it. Dad is in Bedfordshire

£16 an hour, Lincolnshire.

Mowing a lawn that takes an hour? I'd give him twenty quid. More intense gardening I'd probably give him 40 an hour absolute tops.
But i'd rather offer a set fee for a job in case he deliberately dragged his heels to inflate the invoice.
Definitely tell your parents to stop using him.
Most councils offer a handyman service for elderly and disabled people, our one only charges ten quid and hour! And he does private work cash in hand as well.

£45 per hour one person includes grass and green waste removal. He does a great job and the garden looks great ( just basic weeding, mowing ect and covers the front garden)usually does the lot in the hour, I'm in Wiltshire. Sorry to hear about your parents, my grandparents were paying similar to a guy who did a crappy job and charged them £65 a fortnight and was there less than 45 mins each job.

Another one paying £25 an hour. He mows and edges both lawns, weeds, and keeps the shrubs etc under control, plus/or anything else I ask him to help with.

He's usually here for an hour and a half.

£40 a fortnight
lawn and tidy
£25 an hour
Yorkshire

more if waste needs taking but we gave a green bin licence

Same as first reply - most gardeners round here (Surrey) seem to charge £25 per hour.

£12 a cut for a fairly small lawn. He steins a bit too. Takes about 30-40 minutes. He and DH chat about football for bit at the beginning of that.

Always have an energy drink and some treats for his dog that he absolutely dotes on.

We live about a three minute walk away from his own house in the village so we’re always his last job of the day when he comes round.

We’re in Scotland.

Thanks for your replies, they are really useful. He will definitely be getting his marching orders along with some strong words from me and hopefully I'll find somebody who'll do a better job for a far fairer price.

£25/hour NW England.

Ours is a bit more OP- £35 per hour but we’re in London. And it’s really hard to find people willing to do garden maintenance around here as it doesn’t make big money like landscaping. Our gardener is also really great, he mows, prunes, cuts everything back & he also comes up with ideas for plants & how best to use the space. £70 does sound steep just for mowing the lawns.

I was paying £20/hour
Your parents guy is taking the piss, I'd be posting in a local Facebook page about him and asking for recommendations for honest reliable gardeners who actually know what they're doing.
Please please don't hold back about exploiting vulnerable older people when you sack him.

£20 an hour. Small lawn, bushes trimmed and cuttings taken away. Weeded. Will put in plants for me as I'm not very mobile. Nottinghamshire.

£30 an hour in the south. Very knowledgeable guy, mows, strims, weeds.