Cost of gardener 200 foot garden

[Jacketandbeans]

We have fallen in love with a property with a 200 foot garden. Neither of us have ever owned a garden of any kind and are clueless. My DH is adamant he doesn't want a garden that big and that if I want one I need to look after it, he said he has memories of his dad spending all weekend gardening when he was a kid and we like to be out and about with the kids at the weekends. He would rather buy somewhere with a very small low maintenance garden, but I love the idea of all that space for the kids and the potential to put outhouses in as they get older etc.
Anyway, I'm wondering how much it would cost to pay someone to look after it?! I'm really clueless as i don't have any sense of how long it takes to mow or what other jobs would need doing that I haven't thought of.
Thanks!

Sounds similar to mine and I could employ someone at least one full day a week to maintain it properly. It's doable without that but if there's a large lawn get a ride on lawn mower, put loads of mulch and barriers down on beds and have a lot of drought resistant shrubs. Mature shrubs and hedges may need cutting back once or twice a year - I would pay about £300 - £600 for this including waste removal.

Regular weeding and tidying up £15-£17 per hour for a gardener round here. I have 3hrs per week and it keeps things ticking over in half of the garden only. I have to try and keep on top of the rest and I'm not doing that effectively.

I've never had a garden that big but I do know people who have and yes it's a lot of work. And money. If you did literally nothing at all yourselves you'd be looking at maybe three hours a week (minimum) paying a gardener plus all the things you'd need to buy - plants, tools, garden extras like pots, compost, fertiliser and plant food. I can't see the ongoing maintenance of a garden that size with it all contracted out coming in at under £100 a week. And that's probably a conservative estimate.

Ok so he's right it's a lot of work 😳
We currently live in a 2 bed flat with 3 kids under 7 and we really struggle to keep up with daily chores as it is. Any views on whether it's actually worth it?? We have all boys so I think the garden will be worth its weight in gold but maybe it's just a bit too big to manage.

It may be expensive but is so worth it. We've just moved from a flat with DC to a very small house with a garden probably 1/6 the size of you mention but it's been a godsend- we use it as an extra room and the DC have been in their element since they've moved in. I'm not green fingered at all (can't even keep houseplants alive) but I've taken to clearing up leaves, keeping the hedges and borders nice and neat and locking everything away when the DC finish playing with it. I'd say go for it and just focus on maintaining the garden and calling in reinforcements when needed. The space will do your and your DCs mental health wonders.

It's not so hard if you keep on top of it and keep the hedges trimmed back and the grass mowed. And it is worth it.

Sounds similar to mine. It's a full time job to keep it looking great. If it's not raining I'm out there. It is my sanctuary. I'm fortunate I retired early on health grounds and don't have young children. I also have DH to cut the lawns and do the heavy duty stuff but it would be a jungle otherwise. Gardeners around here are happy to do the quick jobs (£20 per hour) such as grass and hedge cutting, getting one to do weeding and look after beds/borders is a different matter.

It depends what the garden is like currently. To make it more manageable for a gardener half a day or whole day I would say lawn that can be mowed in half an hour, a "wild garden" of longer grass and shrubs with maybe wood chippings under small eg fruit trees and shrubs. No "borders" if only a gardener three hours a week. Maybe a raised bed for you to grow veg with the kids. Shrubs which grow neatly and can be clipped once/twice a year. If you want colour then some large potion containers. Shrubs that ae easy to manage might be hydrangeas, hebe, lonicera, honey berry, redcurrant, gooseberry.

I think it depends how low maintenance it is. If it's just a long lawn no plants then you can pay someone to mow every two weeks easy and just keep an eye on weeds. If it's a lawn with some shrubs then add in pruning to that (which is a once a year or couple of times a year job but you will probably need to pay someone to remove the clippings). If it's a mature garden with mix of trees, shrubs, flowers etc then it can be a full time job but a fun one!

I am kind of simplifying. I love my small garden and would love a 200ft one but I know I can't handle it but that's because I would plant too much stuff then need to care for it.

Jinx snowspider 🤣🤣🤣

I think if you found a gardener who would assess and plan with you to make changes if necessary to get the garden in order so that they?and you could then maintain it on the limited hours regime that would be ideal. So work out a budget of maybe £1000 for the initial work, ie wood chippings, more grass, digging out when necessary, making a raised bed and starting off some shrubs if necessary. A gardener could easily increase plant stock of shrubs like hebe and fruit from cuttings at mo extra outlay if necessary. then ongoing contract as appropriate.

How is it laid out currently? And how wide is it? We have nearly 1/4 acre of grass to cut - with a ride on lawnmower it takes about 30-40 mins but the trees and hedges are a big job when we do them every couple of years, and we need a tree surgeon for a day every 3-4 years for the bigger trees. We have had to buy the equipment so that makes it expensive. If it were a fairly standard rectangular lawn, I’d be going for a robot lawnmower.

Our borders are less time consuming now because we created them; I research my plants so I know what size they are going to grow to and always overplant herbaceous perennials around my shrubs after being very thorough about removing perennial weeds so it’s now what I would consider ongoing pottering in the garden and is maybe an hour or two when it’s sunny because I’m a lazy gardener. If you’ve got an established garden, that’s not so easy as there will be a lot to do to start with.

Would you ever be considering an extension or garden office? They take up more space than you think but you would have plenty of garden to put them in.

Overall, I’d say it’s worth it but we’ve got no kids to consider.

This.

You can turn part of it into a wild pollinator garden.

And your boys can do simple yard chores at a young age, taking on more as they grow. Good exercise & experience for them. And exposure to nature, climate and science.

😀

I would also say that dividing it mentally and/or physically into sections helps, so neatest and highest maintenance nearest the house, then progressing to wild at the end and consider it long term so simplify initially but if you enjoy it then you can increase projects and include the kids as cps said above. And in the early stages weed membrane/cardboard from your removal boxes is your friend. And an electric strimmer. A big compost heap from old pallets at the end.

We have a big garden, around half the size of yours, and it's really well stocked with plants in the beds and vegetable patches etc. It is a lot of work but I love it and have developed a real passion for gardening. Might be nice for your boys to get involved when they are older too! We have a gardener come and help us with the big jobs and then we just keep on top of the every day stuff as we can't afford someone to come every week. It's definitely do-able!

I've posted two pictures so you can see what would be involved. Thanks for the comments so far 😊

@Artinsurance yeah we would look to extend the house one day, or at least consider a garden office/games room. I think that could be invaluable when the kids are teens as the house itself is only 1250 square foot.

That was me under a different username by the way! Name change fail!

We had shrubs and a lawn ,the latter devoted to football, cricket, badminton and trampolining for 25 years or so. The DC could play in it and it was acceptable for visitors , BBQs etc.Somebody mowed the lawn for us and we kept on top of paths etc. No games in the garden now and I am reclaiming it step by step. I have 4 hours help every two weeks or so and spend 1/2 to 1 hours a day in the garden.DH looks after garden furniture and has a hatred of moss which I leave him to.I could spend a lot longer in the garden but have a busy life.In other words if you can make the garden low maintenance for now I think you are unlikely to regret it. The other thing to remember is that DC grow quickly.

Like others have said, you can take a low maintenance approach to the garden and if you're happy to do some work yourself, you could probably get away with 4 hrs gardener time a fortnight (maybe more in summer, def less in winter).
Having that space with kids is so wonderful, I wouldn't rule it out.

Might be worth considering paying for some time with a gardener/garden designer to develop an approach. I'd really recommend letting half of lawn turn to meadow with a couple of mown paths in - great for wildlife and v low maintenance (add a big trampoline for kids 😉) - just mow down in September each year. If you're anywhere near Bucks, pm me, it's my job 😊

Those pictures make it look pretty low maintenance to be honest, it wouldn't take a great deal to do as some of the suggestions above - go for it! As a gardener I would take the job

Looking at the pictures, it's already set up in a way that's well placed to split into formal lawn and informal meadow with wildflowers and possibly more fruit trees. Buy yourself a robotic lawn mower for the formal bit and pay for the informal bit to be cut down at the right time for you to sow some wildflower seeds.

Thanks so much for all your advice. We are really leaning towards going for it. I have always longed for a huge garden, in a way I can't describe. I think it's the feeling of space and freedom, that you could retreat down the end and be far away from everyone. We can't live in the countryside so this is the closest I can get to that.

Get a house near a park - I tell you once those boys pick up a cricket bat no garden is big enough!
Think 100ft is manageable, though getting it in to a low maintenance will take work and investment in itself. For 200ft could you let the back go a bit wild?

200' is a big deal. I'd find out first how much local gardeners might charge to keep it in order- and I'd want to be sure I could even find one that was available.
We have a back garden of probably a similar area - shorter, but wider - and it's a lot of work, but we're keen gardeners and grow fruit and veg. Neighbours with a similar sized garden who are too elderly to do the heavy work employ a gardener for at least half a day a week, and theirs is low-maintenance; trees and shrubs and a tiny fraction of as much lawn as your example.