to think £20 an hour is too much for a gardener?

[toastlover100]

My elderly gran has just told me that her gardener has put his hourly rate up from £15 to £20.

This seems like a lot to me, and a bit percentage increase too!

Its pretty much the going rate where I live (Hampshire / Wiltshire border)

Sounds eminently reasonable to me: and it looks like he realised he was hugely undercharging before hence the fairly hefty hike, but not unjustified.

It's skilled and back breaking work and may well involve a lot of his own equipment and transport. Not too much at all imho!

But what does that have to cover?

If he has to travel between customers then he won't be paid for that time so he will need to factor that in to his charges.

Then there is petrol and, if he is taking garden waste away, he might have to pay to dispose of it.

We don't have a gardener but we do pay someone who comes around every quarter to treat the lawn and, once a year, to aerate it. The normal quarterly visits cost £19 and I bet they don't take more than an hour if that.

If that includes him taking all his own tools and removing garden waste then it's not unreasonable. Out of that he has to pay himself a living wage, run a vehicle, pay for insurances and tax, maintain all his equipment and factor in the cost and time of travel to jobs. If it's a short job (1-3 hours) then it probably isn't worth his while doing it for any less. I pay a contract gardener £180 per day for an 8am - 4.30pm day when he brings all his own kit.

I pay £15 p/h bloody well worth it...think that's fairly reasonable where I am London/Essex border.

It's a big pay rise percentage wise. If she thinks he's good she should perhaps suggest a compromise..maybe £17 ph.

Sounds about right to me. Don’t forget it’s not comparable to employed work - his fee has to cover all his expenses - equipment, transport, marketing, putting aside for holiday pay, sick pay, taxes etc.

When my garden was done labour bill was £240 for four hours but there were two of them - London

No it's not if you are employing a professional, qualified gardener. Someone who knows how to prune properly, how to care for plants properly, treat pest & diseases.
£20 per hour has to cover travel costs, wear and tear of tools as well as pay a living wage.
You would expect to pay a plumber, mechanic etc this sort of hourly rate, so why not a professional gardener.

Of course if they just cut all the shrubs into blobs with a hedge trimmer twice a year and can't tell one weed from another, then that's a different matter. But I wouldn't employ someone like that.

That is entirely reasonable. Good luck finding another reliable gardener if she doesn’t want pay though.

It depends. Where in the country are you, and is he a proper gardener or just basic tasks such as mowing the lawn?

It is expensive for where I live but that doesn't help as it is unlikely we live in the same area.

Can you have a look online to see how much the average price is where you live?

The thing that would concern me the most is that it is such a huge jump in price. If the gardener has a lot of elderly clients they may feel pressured to accept this new price without exploring other options. Unless he has massively changed his business or what he does the price jump does seem to appear as though he is taking advantage of her due to her age.

It’s skilled work. I wish I could find someone to do it for £20...

Sounds about right.

It sounds about right. It's also paying for travel and equipment.

We pay £20 an hour, also London. It's back breaking work and he gets it done far quicker than I could. Bargain.

It’s what I pay.

Worth every single penny IMO.

Sounds right

What do you or your DH earn per hour? Do you work in salaried jobs or hourly rate? Do you own your own business or do you work for someone else?

Now compare that to the gardener. Does it seem more reasonable now, given they also have to live in your local area presumably?

Imho, anyone in their own business who doesn't charge at least that rate either doesn't have a viable business or isn't charging enough.

We pay that in rural Scotland. He’s got costs like tools and waste disposal. Plus he’s out in all weathers.

the price jump does seem to appear as though he is taking advantage of her due to her age.

Or maybe he's just worked out that given the enormous cost of living increases we've seen in the real world, not the manipulated CPI / RPI numbers that are put out, that he needs to cover his costs. That seems far more likely than taking advantage of an elderly person!

He might be doing that cos he’s got more work than he can handle, I know our one was turning work away this year.

That’s what I pay, worth every penny! My garden wouldn’t be lovely otherwise.....

Fuel has gone up hugely recently. If he’s using petrol/diesel powered tools that’ll be another reason for increasing prices.

He can charge what he likes. If she can find a cheaper gardener who is equally good she should change gardeners.