Garden maintenance cost blew my mind.

[Boleynforsoup]

I had a gardener round to quote for trimming some hedges back from my back gate that overhang from the property behind, weeding the patio and jet washing it. Taking all garden waste with them He’s said half a days work for a couple of them max. He’s just emailed me the quote: £750!!! My flabber is truly gasted…. Is this really the going rate?! 5 years ago without the jet washing I paid someone £45!!!

Dh occasionally does some land management, mostly cutting back brambles and mowing sorts of waste land with a rough cut mower. It’s not his main business, but since he has the equipment, he takes a job every now and then. He probably charges £400-500 for a full day, that’s just for him.

£750 for half a days work for several guys doesn’t sound far off that. Remember it’s not just the actual work on the day, it’s fuel costs, equipment maintenance, admin costs, insurance, plus if you’re asking him to removal stuff too, there’s the added cost of that, plus day rate for several skilled or unskilled workers depending on what’s being done.

I sympathise. I received a quote for £500 for tree pruning. I think we have to just let them keep growing...

My gardener / handyman charges £200 a day. He's lovely though and will try and squash any waste into his car to take home to compost rather than tip as they charge a fortune for business disposal.

Sounds like op could shove the clippings into her garden bin

I have a friends 15year old to do garden jobs for me, things like jet washing and weeding can be done by anybody he asks for £10.50 an hour! Yes obviously he’s not paying tax or anything but I like his attitude to making money. Do you know any teens that need a few quid and can take on the easy jobs so you only need to pay for the actual real gardening work?

There are a lots of bushes and trees round my way that have got massively overgrown. The prices for cutting them doubled almost overnight. I think people just can’t pay it. I still pay it because I have tall bushes/trees. I think what the cutting people could do in 2 hours would take me about 20 hours (which I don’t have!) and the result would be much shitter.

Get multiple quotes.

I had a tree surgeon cut back a few trees after years of neglect. Cost £800. Came back the next year and did it again for the same. He was disappointed the third year when i'd got a gardener to mow my lawn and who was also happy to maintain the trees for his £20 an hour.

I was quoted £700 for my smallish driveway to be resealed. The stuff is £50 on Amazon. I just don’t want to do it but can’t justify that.

What do you do and how much are you paid to value your time above doing this work.
For example, I am flabbergasted that I have to pay 400 an hour for someone to read a standard legal contract that they give to a paralegal to check. But I have literally no option as I have to have it read. Those charging 400 an hour think they are well worth it, I actually don't. AI does it just fine. AI doesn't do my garden.

Where I am in the SE it's free to take things to the tip unless it's commercial waste.

Last October I had a lot of work done, it was 2 men for the best part of 2 days and I paid £550 which I was very pleased with, they did the hedges which are very tall, reshaped a couple of trees and also did some other jobs. I suppose it depends on where you are I suppose,.

Sounds a lot but I suppose it depends on your definition of 'trim a tree'!

I know there are a lot of Mumsnetters that hate AI but it’s enabled me to have the confidence to tackle anything (bar electrics/gas etc) So much of gardening and home improvements is fairly straightforward and ai will tell you exactly how to do it step by step.

It's possible that as it's a small one-off job he just doesn't want to do it, and is over-quoting so that either

• you say 'no thanks'
• you accept the quote, and he's paid well over his normal rate for a job he doesn't particularly want to do

Please don't let my gardener read that rate, though I usually tell him he undercharges!

£350 for a small garden half day clear in the south east for me. It’s the taking the waste away that costs - they have to pay to dump it. Think they said a regular garden clear without waste removal would be £30!!

Yeah I do drive and decking with the karcher. Can't un dersttand why it would cost so much for someone to do that

I pay our outdoor odd job man £30ph, mostly for mowing and strimming. Every couple of years, the tree surgeon comes with his team, climbing kit and chipper to shape and maintain the bigger trees: he charges by the project, but about £800 last time. Edge of Dartmoor.

No that sounds fr too much for a half day even with two people. Get another quote.

They are ripping you off.
Find a regular gardener and expect to pay £15 to £25 per hour depending where you live.
Disposal is a big cost so if you get them to leave the cuttings you can take to the tip or feed your brown bin over a few weeks.

Get a couple more quotes. Common belief is that tradesmen never want to turn work down so deliberately quote very high when they don't want a job.

I've just been asked for £100 to clean my oven.

My DH is a handyman/gardener and he charges £20-25phr, or a fixed amount for a bigger one-off job (like a major hedge trim, patio, shed base, gutter cleaning etc). He's also done bathrooms!

Unfortunately he's afraid of heights too, he only does bungalows lol.

Get more quotes, with & without disposal. If the cuttings are not diseased could you compost them, make a dead hedge/bug hotel, or donate them to a local allotment or school for hugelculture (asking first)? What species are they?

The trades people I have used ask if I'd like to dispose of items (white goods, garden stuff) myself as a domestic customer which is cheaper/free.