To ask how much you pay your gardener?

[NewName73]

Apologies for this very first-world problem... but I would like to know the going rate per hour for a gardener, to do basic weeding, planting, pruning and general maintenance.

Country garden, not city.

Freelance rather than a company.

Thanks

We only have someone to cut the grass, because DH has pretty bad arthritis in his knees, ankles and wrists, and he charges I think £20 to do all the grass which is the length of the house at the back by maybe 8ft, and 2 biggish areas at the front. It takes him about 45 mins but he doesn't do a good job at all, we're wondering about how to not have him back this year and get someone else.

It depends where in the country you are. Obviously living expenses are much higher in some areas as are costs like parking. When you hire a tradesperson you are paying for their training and knowledge. Not just their time. I don't know why people think other people's skills and time are worth so little.

Exactly @damnthatanxiety
Trained gardeners go through years of study, training and experience.

Different if you want someone to cut your grass and Rudy your leaves only.

Thanks all.

There is obviously a large variation!

The person I am thinking of employing is not formally qualified or trained but does have a lot of experience, and is charging at the high end of the range quoted early in the thread.

As i said, no mowing or leaf collecting required.

I am just trying to get a sense of what's reasonable.

The issue with this is that many people call themselves gardeners.
Do they have recognised qualifications? RHS? Kew? At what level? What is their expertise? What extra training do they have? Chainsaw? Propagation?

This. I am fully Horticulturally trained and have years of experience. My plant knowledge is excellent. I charge £20 an hour, which I consider cheap, because I like to be flexible with when I work - if a dc has a swimming gala or I have a plumber coming or something I can say to my client that I’m skipping a week or doing a different day. I only work in term time (although I will pop in during school holidays to water gardens and greenhouses when clients are on holiday, as they are all fine with me bringing the dc along when I do that).

My clients are all fine with this, as they know they are getting a bargain and they value my work - if they got in one of the big gardening companies they would be paying upwards of £30 an hour and be sent someone whose knowledge and experience pretty much started and ended with how a lawn mower works.

Knowledgable and properly skilled gardeners are like hen’s teeth (round here anyway - SE). I never need to advertise and turn down work constantly.

Someone asked how do you train to be a gardener - your local agricultural college will offer Horticultural courses. It is a lovely and rewarding career. But as a pp already mentioned, it is physically hard on your body. I have a bad back, tendonitis and a permanently damaged eye (poked in the eye by a thorn). I am in my mid forties and having to cut back on my work in order to slow down the wear and tear. In other ways, it keeps me very fit though, so it’s swings and roundabouts.