Is this a reasonable quote?

[Moreveganice]

I have received a quote for a garden company to deal with an extremely overgrown and neglected medium sized garden. It is 1600. I have no idea if this is a reasonable sum or not (it’s not my garden…)

It is to do the grass, shrubs and clear a patio, treat with weed killer (?) and tame a
virginia creeper which is taking over the house. Also to clear an over grown side return.

It is a big job but I was expecting 100s not 1000s. Am I being unrealistic?

How big is the garden? Could you post a photo? 1600 seems ridiculous unless it's a very big garden?

Cheaper to buy a strimmer and do it yourself you'll save 100s.

Does it include waste removal as that's expensive?

Ask them how long they think it will take and how many people they will bring. Then you can see whether the hourly rate is reasonable

Can you really not do it yourself?

I saved money when I moved into my new house by clearing up the front and back gardens which were in state comparable to what you are describing.

I got a strimmer. I have 2 compost bins where I put a lot of the cuttings.

I also painted the shed and fences myself.

I am 53! so not an impossible job and you can pace yourself and do a bit everyday.

sounds reasonable to me. My neighbours paid £800 for a tidy up and removal for a very small garden in the NW a few months ago.

depends what you've asked them to do. if there are brambles, tree stumps etc these need more painstaking removal.there might be more than one person.
does this include removal of all the waste as well ? That's expensive, you can't just take gardening vehicles to the tip like normal householders ! I also don't know what you mean by medium sized garden. How many days do they expect it to take ?
don't forget that a gardener doing this as their livelihood has many more expenses than just their wage and I presume you expect them to be paid a fair wage.
What you've posted is in no way detailed enough to establish whether this is a fair quote.

yes I agree it is vague. But I think that is also a problem about the quote. - just x amount to clear the garden. No details or breakdown.

I live 100 miles from the garden in question and did not speak to the gardener myself. I am being asked to agree if this is reasonable - without enough information to be sure. I just hoped I could get a rough idea of what gardening services cost as I haven’t used them before.

Does anyone have an idea of what a normal daily rate might be? Then I can have a stab at how long is reasonable for the amount of work?

Get a couple more quotes together? Then you'll know whether they are realistic or not. If you start querying them on number of days etc then they might just find another job. It's very difficult to get these kind of people in my area unless you want to wait until winter, so they likely have other options.

I have a gardener who comes every two weeks, there are two of them and I pay £44 per visit. For that they mow the two lawns and keep on top of the pruning and weeding - I have lots of large bushes and hedges in the garden. I would say it is medium sized.

They usually stay about half an hour and come all year round, focusing on pruning or moss removal etc in the winter months. They do not remove the garden waste, it goes in my green bin.

I think it is a bit expensive as I was previously paying £20 a fortnight for someone just to mow the lawns between April and November but I needed more help with general gardening which he did not do. Also I live in an area with a high elderly population and gardening services are in huge demand!

i used to use people for one off jobs and paid around £200 for pruning taking maybe two hours and paid £1400 for my patio ( very large) to be weeded, jet washed and a shiny finish added.

I think £1600 is a bit steep if the work can be done in a day but you would pay more if they are removing all the rubbish. Could you ask for a breakdown of their prices?

An average size skip is £300 where I am - if they're clearing a side return + multiple other bits then a skip or two really adds up!

It's about £25-40ph for landscapers round here, plus the equipment hire needed to do the work.

If it's "extremely overgrown and neglected" it's going to be lots and lots of work. The price doesn't sound ridiculous!

The overgrown will disappear to ground level very quickly with a powerful strimmer. We have one that eats through brambles, suckers off shrubs, etc. If you want the roots out that's another problem. Are they just trimming back the Virginia creeper or actually removing it from the walls, which is a whole different ballgame.