Is paying gardeners for regular maintenance really seen as an extravagance

[Augustus40]

I have always paid gardeners to maintain my gardens front and back over the years.

The reactions I have had are very puzzling. Why is this deemed a luxury or an extravagance?

I detest gardening get bitten easily get plant allergies hayfever and a bad back.

There is enough to do running a home without killing myself gardening!

I pay £60 a month to 2 young men and they do a great job. It really cheers me up.

It is about the only small luxury I have left these days. I stopped pedicures massages and physio long ago.

Is it so unusual to support a local business in this way. People seem to have a problem with it. Can't you do it they ask! If this is such a rarity then how come gardeners are always fully booked up!

It is a luxury because it is something ( in most cases) that you could do yourself and many people couldn’t afford to do that.

but there is nothing wrong with having some luxury in your life - it’s not a race to the bottom and each of us should be free to choose what we prefer as luxuries. Some people like coffees out with friends, some like gardeners and some like camping holidays or gigs

if people could be appreciative of the good fortune they have to buy the none essentials they want most they might be happier

even if I do hedgecutting I have to bend down to gather up all the trimmings

Would long handled leaf grabbers work for you? I am in a similar position and am able to do most things, albeit ten or more times slower than it could be, with long handled tools and doing things in small doses.

It can be overwhelming at times and I'm working on changing my garden to make it more 'me' friendly but I always feel boosted after getting outside and spending time doing what I can.

Delightful. The OP has some health conditions. Nicest garden on the estate but probably the worst personality.

I completely understand why people do it as it is such hard work :).

I live alone so I maintain my front and back garden myself and all the weeding, lawn mowing, taking care of my fruits trees and plants/flowers and a little pong are a constant, tiring job.

I do enjoy it though and I see it as a good physical exercise.

But I think it makes complete sense to have help for people who don't have the time to do it or can't physically do all the tasks associated with gardening or simply are not interested in gardening.

People who commented on you using gardeners are just weird and maybe a bit envious...

I think it depends on the individual. My mum has a gardener, she's 86 and can no longer get down on her knews or walk more than a few paces before becoming breathless due to having had lung cancer (she was a non smoker).
Mind you I'd prefer if her gardener was younger, he's 80 and can't do that much.

I see both cleaners and gardeners as an extravagance as they're just not something I would ever be able to justify to myself.

As I said earlier - other people's priorities always seem strange

I don't really get the takeaway thing - if I can't be bothered to cook, I will do something like an omelette which to me isn't really cooking. I cannot justify spending £30 on a takeaway. But I happily spend money on a cleaner and a babysitter and an occasional gardener

I’m the same. Takeaways are always deeply disappointing and poor value for money. I would never get takeaway but my kids seem to enjoy it as a treat occasionally. We have a cleaner and I would love a gardener but I haven’t been able to find one that’s in budget.

Yes for me a luxury is something that I don't have to have, that uses disposable money. For me that's probably the hairdresser (after years of doing it myself I can afford to go every so often), so I'd put nails, spa treatments, cleaners, gardeners etc in that category. But also people can spend their disposable income on whatever makes them happy.
Also get what you said that for a lot of people I know, doing the gardening is the fun bit. My mum has a gardener now that she's more immobile, but she used to enjoy it.

It's each to their own, isn't it?

Our garden is tiny and basic so for me, a gardener would be a waste of money that (in my eyes) could be better spent elsewhere, whereas a takeaway would be better spent as a) our local one could easily last 2-3 meals and b) I can't stand cooking so I would always spend my money on avoiding it where possible!

Why does anybody feel entitled to comment on how you spend your money? Who are these people making rude comments?

I’ve had a gardener in the past when I worked, had 2 DC who are ND, a mother with dementia, Dad with cancer plus sick in-laws plus got bad hay fever. I love gardening but at the time it was too much to do with my other demands, nothing to do with being lazy….Also had one when I needed to walking sticks to walk.

Times have changed thank goodness and I am now going to do the garden for a lady in her 90s that I do a little bit of cleaning for. Some people are very weird about money. I knew someone who created over £35 for a ham or something at Christmas but thought nothing of spending in excess of 10k per year on holidays . Do what you want that works for you.

Once basic needs are met, the value of money is to buy you time. That time is for you to live the life you want. The life you want is not gardening. Paying for gardening so you can use that time for something else is exactly what you should do.

You can afford it & it brings you pleasure, I don’t see any downside.

Why do you care? Why is it their business what you legally spend your own money on?!

Who cares what anyone thinks?!
We have a gardener for four hours a week, because I’m seriously ill & DH has neither the skills nor the time. Judge away, world!!

Reading with interest because I'm thinking of doing the same and the thought did cross my mind that it sounds extravagant. I've recently started getting my nails done professionally, every 3 weeks. Last week I got fake eyelashes done for the first time which many women do regularly. It occurred to me that getting a maintenance gardener would be the same cost as these indulgences, yet many women don't think twice about this type of expenditure. Many spend much more on tan and eyebrows etc and it's no one gossips about it. For some reason we have narrow minded views on what is an unaffordable luxury and what is a 'treat we deserve'.

I wfh and our kids have left home now but I still have a gardener. He comes every fortnight for £30 … cuts the grass and trims hedges etc .. general tidy up.

I love it and he’s worth every penny … I’d rather cut back on something else.

I cut my own hair and do my own nails. In order to justify it.

Strange how there are some here on MN who judge it but I bet at least one of them drinks wine and more than one bottle a week (MN’ers seem to love their wine) and are fine with spending money on that.

For those who think it’s lazy, unless you wash all your laundry by hand and go down on your hands and knees with a brush instead of a vacuum, you’re being a hypocrite. Think of a gardener just as you would a household appliance. If someone can afford it, or makes sacrifices to afford it, then why be negative ( it’s a very odd thing to be judgemental about anyway). I’m sure if you or your partner ran a gardening service you’d be very appreciative of the business.

Even if you won the lottery?

Sounds like you live in a very affluent area yourself. How do you know all their business and personslity traits?

Any gardeners I’ve ever had have turned up in a van.

I have no idea how I'd feel in that scenario, I'm just answering based on my current circumstances.

I have a gardener. I work hard and i dont enjoy gardening. Outsourcing something I dont enjoy also helps to keep someone else in work so makes sense to me especially seeing as he does a much better job than I would and in half the time.

People who can justify having a gardener should have a gardener. It’s a non-issue (so no idea why some people do have an issue with it). If I had the money I’d have a gardener, a cleaner, a chef and a chauffeur.