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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be surprised at £18 per hour for gardening?

217 replies

Spagnolia · 23/01/2023 18:25

We are struggling to keep the weeds and brambles at bay and started to think we might get someone to help.

A guy was recommended by neighbour but I almost fell off my chair when I found out he charges £18 per hour for general weeding, grass cutting etc using our tools and equipment.

My junior doctor child gets £14 per hour!

We are far from the South East.

Do you have gardening help?
What is the going rate at the moment?

OP posts:
HedgehogB · 23/01/2023 23:00

My cleaner gets £18 an hour and I consider is really lucky

TwinsAndTiramisu · 23/01/2023 23:00

@Spagnolia

I get what you're saying OP, and you're getting unneccessary flack, it's clear you are not humble bragging, just surprised that a junior medical professional is paid less than the going rate for something as simple and unskilled as weeding. I'd pay a good amount, and have done, for a decent gardener, doing things that actually require knowledge/skill. Weeding doth not. I'm sure someone will come along to point out the extreme and lengthy training in "identifying weeds from other plants" or something similar, but as we all know, it's just pulling out the straggly bits in 99% of cases. A bored teenager who knows nothing about gardening at all can do it. And I agree, £18p/hr seems a lot for that. This guy wants you to provide the tools as well.

When we have conifers shaped, we have paid over £1k for the day. It's a specialised job, they need all manner of cutters, scaffolds, there's huge amounts to take away. Worth every penny.

In contrast, I'm buggered if I'm paying someone £18p/hr to mow the lawn and pull up the dandelions when a 14yr old child can do it. There's no skill there. It's not heavy and labourious. There's gardening, and then there's gardening.

I think your chap is more justified with that charge doing the bramble clearing. Maybe he can get that bit done, and you can get a local student, or teen looking for some extra cash to do the weeding?

thewinterwitch · 23/01/2023 23:03

I wish I could find an actual skilled gardener. All I can find now are blokes with a few pairs of small secateurs who say they are gardeners, but can't recognize a weed from a plant, and charge much more than £18 per hour while they're at it.

ichundich · 23/01/2023 23:07

thewinterwitch · 23/01/2023 23:03

I wish I could find an actual skilled gardener. All I can find now are blokes with a few pairs of small secateurs who say they are gardeners, but can't recognize a weed from a plant, and charge much more than £18 per hour while they're at it.

That's exactly my experience as well.

EezyOozy · 23/01/2023 23:10

You do you want to somebody who knows what is a weed and what isn’t a weed…

TwinsAndTiramisu · 23/01/2023 23:15

As if by magic.... Grin

powershowerforanhour · 23/01/2023 23:20

was surprised that an unqualified unskilled wage was higher than a junior doctor wage"

Well some of the unqualified unskilled people might not be able to afford houses in the south east so moved away leaving more people wanting to pay for manual work to be done than there are people to do it, pushing up the prices.

Also, possibly fewer freshly arrived eastern europeans since Brexit to keep the prices nice and low. The ones who have been here a few years are well established and charge what they're worth (ie plenty).

powershowerforanhour · 23/01/2023 23:21

Supply and demand really.

BungleandGeorge · 23/01/2023 23:21

Yes people are odd they’ll happily pay their Gardner/dog walker/ cleaner etc a good hourly rate plus tips but grumble about HCP/ teacher etc pay.
self employed pay less to the taxman. Those who don’t require a degree can start earning at 18 and avoid thousands of pounds student loan.

Autumndays123 · 23/01/2023 23:40

Allthefoodandwine · 23/01/2023 18:26

I posted an ad in our local 'Next door' page, and found a lovely retired man who charges us £9 an hour.

You pay your lovely retired gardener less than minimum wage? Not sure that's worth bragging about, or even legal actually

Mondayagainohno · 23/01/2023 23:47

I think you’ve found a bargain
as others say they have to pay their taxes, insurances, tolls and accrue to be able to take a holiday

Nanny0gg · 23/01/2023 23:48

Spagnolia · 23/01/2023 18:25

We are struggling to keep the weeds and brambles at bay and started to think we might get someone to help.

A guy was recommended by neighbour but I almost fell off my chair when I found out he charges £18 per hour for general weeding, grass cutting etc using our tools and equipment.

My junior doctor child gets £14 per hour!

We are far from the South East.

Do you have gardening help?
What is the going rate at the moment?

I pay my gardener (who has a horticultural degree) £20ph.

He brings his own tools and does 2 hours a fortnight. This also has to cover when he can't work if it really is too wet and too cold (not been through the winter).

And it's invaluable having one who knows his daffodils from his dandelions. I'm fed up with having ones where I know more about plants than they do.

LemonSwan · 23/01/2023 23:50

YABU. It’s not even top rate. Very much an intro / side job rate.

Nanny0gg · 23/01/2023 23:50

thewinterwitch · 23/01/2023 23:03

I wish I could find an actual skilled gardener. All I can find now are blokes with a few pairs of small secateurs who say they are gardeners, but can't recognize a weed from a plant, and charge much more than £18 per hour while they're at it.

It's taken me 4 goes to find one.

No 3 had actually some clue but he vanished at the height of the summer and I never heard from him again.

sansou · 23/01/2023 23:50

£20 ph for 3 hrs every other week which is reasonable. Includes lawn mowing, edging, weeding, trimming and general basic maintenance. Bigger jobs are quoted separately e.g hedging my borders/pruning my fruit trees. He uses his own tools and works for 3 of my neighbours too. It's actually quite hard to find a reliable/semi decent gardener and I've been fortunate to have only had 2 gardeners in the last decade.

LemonSwan · 23/01/2023 23:53

thewinterwitch · 23/01/2023 23:03

I wish I could find an actual skilled gardener. All I can find now are blokes with a few pairs of small secateurs who say they are gardeners, but can't recognize a weed from a plant, and charge much more than £18 per hour while they're at it.

We exist. Problem is it’s hard to get a full rota to start with as many are like the OP.

So they end up moving into other areas quite quickly; garden design, horticulture, landscape management, fixed employment roles (head gardener) etc

UsingChangeofName · 24/01/2023 00:12

Slightly different as they bring their own tools, but £40 here for 2 gardeners who garden for an hour, so, in theory £20ph, but in practice, before either of them get paid they have to factor in:

  • travel between jobs - they obviously can't complete 7 jobs in 7 hours
  • time spent loading the van in the morning, and then taking all the green waste to wherever they take it and disposing of it at the end of the day
  • what they are charged for disposing of all the green waste
  • buying the van (whether that is via a loan or some sort of lease agreement or, if bought out of savings, then depreciation / saving for the next one)
  • running the van - I hate to think what the insurance is, plus petrol / diesel, MOT, running repairs, replacing parts over time
  • buying all the equipment they use, and maintaining it and insuring it
  • some security built in for when someone is off sick and their clients don't pay them as they haven't done the work...... some security of when they lose clients which can happen without notice if the client needs to cut back, but they will still have their fixed costs
  • they have to factor in holiday pay
  • some security for things like if their van is in an accident, or tools stolen and they can't work until they get it sorted
  • then enough pay to make it worth their while working in the rain, and freezing cold - or potentially blistering heat when I am in a comfortable space inside.
Comewithmefriday · 24/01/2023 01:20

Spagnolia · 23/01/2023 19:00

The gardener is not qualified, brings no tools or removes any of the garden waste. I have no idea about his insurance (our home insurance covers people working around our house and garden though.

I mentioned my DC as they did 5 years at medical school and currently does night shifts as the only doctor on duty covering several wards, so a lot of responsibility looking after someone’s child, partner, parent.

I was surprised that an unqualified unskilled wage was higher than a junior doctor wage. Nothing to do with snobbery.

Though it does go some way to explain why many new doctors are leaving for Aus/NZ sadly. And are currently voting to take strike action. There are no market conditions for doctors. The NHS has a monopoly unfortunately. And awful working conditions.

But getting back to the subject, I won’t be paying that much so it looks like we will be embracing rewilding!

It nothing to do with snobbery 🤣

your feudal system is going rogue.

that serf is getting above his station, ma'am,
he is so BU, demanding a fair wage for a day toiling on your land when your poor junior doctor son is pointlessly training for a position with no prospects in a profession that's notoriously underpaid.

nip this in the bud before all your peasants start revolting, the consequences of this will affect us all.

before you know it they'll be talking about having rights and then where will we be

WisherWood · 24/01/2023 08:12

self employed pay less to the taxman.

Nope. We pay exactly the same. There isn't some 'it's OK we'll let you off' clause. It's just that your class 4 NICS and everything else come out of your hourly rate. Check the rates for regular employment vs being self employed. They are the same.

Thoughtful2355 · 24/01/2023 10:41

South West here, £25 ph is going rate for gardening

Allmyarseandpeggymartin · 24/01/2023 10:42

I think that’s pretty good, my cleaner is £15 an hour now

BumpySkull · 24/01/2023 10:59

Beneficialchampion2 · 23/01/2023 18:26

Does your junior doctor buy all their own tools, pay their own NI, tax and Pension contributions. Pay for their own insurance plus everything else required to do their job safely?

YABU

This.

Plus, the gardener’s salary won’t go up at the same rate as a doctor’s. Plus a gardener’s working time includes going between different jobs. Plus paternity/maternity/sick leave etc.

OoooohMatron · 24/01/2023 22:03

BungleandGeorge · 23/01/2023 23:21

Yes people are odd they’ll happily pay their Gardner/dog walker/ cleaner etc a good hourly rate plus tips but grumble about HCP/ teacher etc pay.
self employed pay less to the taxman. Those who don’t require a degree can start earning at 18 and avoid thousands of pounds student loan.

What bollocks

OoooohMatron · 24/01/2023 22:08

Spagnolia · 23/01/2023 19:44

Thank you to those of you who’ve shared their knowledge of the going rate for similar work, it’s certainly much higher than I’d expected. I guess on reflection a lot of mumsnet posters may also be South East and London-based where wages are much higher.
To some on here, as my granny would say ‘if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all ;) ‘

Your granny was talking out of her arse. Is everybody supposed to 'be kind' in the face of a snob who doesn't think that people doing manual labour should earn a decent wage? Get over yourself.

paintitallover · 24/01/2023 22:13

Plus, the gardener’s salary won’t go up at the same rate as a doctor’s. Plus a gardener’s working time includes going between different jobs. Plus paternity/maternity/sick leave etc

This is t my argument (or thread) but I must correct the idea that you can compare doctors and gardeners in terms of pay for going between jobs. My GP spends hours extra travelling between jobs and patients after 6, all unpaid.