What does a gardener charge?

This is a very common query on Landscape Juice - What does a gardener charge per hour or how much should I pay a gardener.

A lot depends on who you are employing, what their level or experience and competence is and what qualifications they have - I would put experience and competence way above the qualifications as a prerequisite.

They may have a brilliant learned mind but often, if a student spends four years making very high grades at horticulture college it can mean that they are very limited for practical ability - they may know their latin plant names but may not know what the hell you do with them.

As far as money is concerned.

An odd job gardener - i.e. one who may be really competent at cleaning up the garden and weeding but not necessarily knowing plant names and being able to truly identify a weed from a desired plant. An odd jobber will be happy to paint sheds or clean patios too and maybe clear gutters of leaves (if they like heights)

The price they charge will depend their needs but you should not expect to pay below £8.00 (assuming that is they are legal and not doing a black market job)

There is no real middle grade of gardener and you really must make your own mind up. Choose a person that you like - this is absolutely essential.

Next, ascertain what level of experience and competence they have and ask for references. The price is open to negotiation and interpretation but if you should be looking to pay a minimum of £10.00ph but not in excess of £18.00 (at day rate charges) A good rate for a one man band who is running a single van with just hand tools and a mower would be £12-16.00.

If you employ a contractor then this can get tricky. When I say contractor I mean an established firm with a small fleet of vans, 3-20 men on the payroll and the ability to scale up onto a variety of jobs.

Remember, you will be paying a proportion of their overhead costs which includes the boss' salary so expect to pay £18-£30.00 ph and really ask yourself if this kind of service is for you if you only need a day a week.

The larger firms are best suited to large scale private residential or commercial activities and employ a range of labour skills from basic labourer to the more keenly skilled operative (usually at management level).

Ask yourself if you wish to pay the boss £30.00 ph plus VAT for a labourer?

In large cities such as London, the hourly rate can go much higher and some firms will try and justify £50.00 plus an hour.

If you are looking for a great one to one service then I would be looking to target the middle option and take someone on trial for something like a month. You will often know within an hour if they are right for you.

Do not, whatever you do, sign up for a long term contract until you are sure of what you are getting.

Do you run a gardening service?

I would like to hear from you so that we can compile a page of regional price guides. I feel that the consumer needs to be educated about what prices they should expect to pay and the gardener generally needs to provide a fair service based on some kind of scale.

Do you feel I am way out on the above figures?

I would like to hear from you if you are a consumer or a service provider so that we can get generate a price structure for all to use as a guide.

Discuss 'what does a gardener charge' here

Comments

[Stuart Marler]

My company offers a maintenance service to the private and commercial customer and our prices are on average between £12.50 and £15 per hour. Although new customers are to be charged £15 per hour from now.
This does include taking away a reasonable amount of waste but anything over say half a builder's bag of cuttings, this is then charged extra.
The reason why my charges are this is due to petrol and insurance costs, amongst other costs like maintenance of machinery and waste disposal.
Some people are charging £20 per hour for the likes of Steyning in West Sussex and more in the more well off areas around here.
I know of one gardener charging a lady £300 for a days work to prune and tidy, cut back etc. for 4 visits a year.

[Richard Boyd]

I would say your figures are right Phil. The problem is with the UK mentality of cheap, cheaper & cheapest AKA dumb, dumber & dumbest.

Unless a client has horticultural knowledge they have no idea about the level of knowledge & expertise that someone has acquired and the fact that they will apply best practice.

Most people just want someone to cut back, weed and mow...they really don't appreciate that by their lazy mental approach and cheapskate attitude that they are not only getting a second rate service but that the end product will also be second rate.

Most maintenance people can't even identify 5 weeds let alone 50...

[The Constant Gardener]

I know of gardeners around here, in Surrey, who charge as little as £7 an hour, but then I tend to find out about them when I go into gardens and repair the damage they've done.

I like to think (or boast?) that I'm of the middle kind of gardener you're talking about - I provide a very individual service, I'm pretty experienced, know one plant from another (and have generally got first-hand experience of growing most of them), have my qualifications and am acquiring some more soon, and generally know what I'm on about.

For some reason people seem a bit shy about telling others what they're paid, but I have no such scruples: my day rate is £150, which works out around £18 an hour, though I still have some "little" gardens (i.e. two or three hours once a week) which I've been doing for a while, where I only charge about £15.

I've heard of gardeners around here charging £22 an hour, but never met one. Most (good ones) seem to be around the £15 an hour mark.

[Philip Voice]

This is great feedback, thank you Stuart, Richard and TCG on here and Stuart on LJN http://landscapejuice.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2074886%3ATopic%3A61.

Stuart M - removing waste is always an issue and I remember the headaches it caused.

It is essential to pass on any handling costs to the client. However, where possible, I would always recommend a client composting (or burning natural waste) within their garden.

£12.50 seems a little low to me - there is one piece of advice a friend gave to me when helping me with my business strategy and marketing many moons ago.

He said that you should not be embarrassed about making a profit.

Remember, any discounts sliced off the top, ultimately come off the bottom line.

Richard,

I agree - customers who are looking for the cheapest price will ultimately get a cheap job and it could work against them in the long term.

TCG - thank you for your honesty. The only way a consumer of gardening services is going to get a handle on prices is by knowing what people charge.

I have started off a discussion on The Landscape Juice Network where I hope, together with this post, we can build up a profile of the charges any potential client can expect (and of course, what might be to high)

[The Constant Gardener]

one other thing... I've always nursed a yen to go work for the RHS or the National Trust - learn at the feet of the experts, etc etc. Sadly, the pay is utterly appalling - they're currently advertising a gardener's job for £14,900, which works out at about £7.80 on a 35-hour week.

I know you're supposed to work in these places for the love and privilege of it - but love and privilege don't pay the mortgage or feed the kids. I simply can't afford to work there. And they're supposed to have the best gardens in the country!

[Stuart]

It sfunny I have been told by some prospective clients that they expect topay no more than £6 an hour!.. In the Ipswich area we do seem to have a problem with some members of certain EU states!!! that are ofering services for between £6 - £8 an hour. I do not even bother with people talking like that now.. you know your own worth, I do a few jobs cheap for some old dears on low pensions, but its not work thats essential to my earnings.. I do it out of respect for the people I guess. I know of an interior designer who works in london, he makes over 300% profit on evrything he does, because he can. Do not lower your charges to match prices? walk away and find someone else..

[Stuart]

appolguise for some of the spellings above!.. just realised that batteries on wirless keyboard are running out!. :)

[The Glamorous gardener]

I have a gardening business in the North of Leicester and charge between 12.50 and 15.00ph, although like one of the other comments, I am charging any new customers the 15.00 rate. My daily rate is no where near as much as Richard Boyds @ 150.00, I usually charge around 90.00. It's difficult to know what to charge unless I ring up for gardeners myself and see what they are charging!
As for rubbish disposal, customers tend to forget that it is no easy task disposing of garden waste, for those that do not have compost heaps. It is impossible to dispose of waste at a local tip if one uses a van or pick-up and the cost of a licence would probably put most of us out of business!
I therefore do charge extra for waste, usually about an hours rate, which is nothing when you think to hire a skip is around 100.00!
When you think the cost of fuel driving to the garden and fuel in lawnmowers, hedge trimmers etc time taken disposing the rubbish there's not a lot left out of 15.00ph! I can't believe anyone charging any less than this could be surviving without making a loss.
Maybe I should put my prices up!

[Philip Voice]

TGG

That is why I would encourage anyone who is starting a business to asses their costs, add their profit/extra needs divide it by the number of hours that they expect to work in the year and compute an hourly rate that way.

If you are finding that the hourly rate exceeds the market average for your type of business then you have not choice but to cut costs or work longer hours.

The other alternative is extra training so that you can lift your rates in accordance with your qualifications and experience.

Waste removal is tricky. We always charged for waste because it is an expense to you - even if that meant shredding it or burning it at your yard.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to comment because I feel this is really valuable information for anyone who intends to employ a gardener or a gardener who is looking for an indication of what the 'market' as a whole charges.

[neil williams]

hi, this blog is great. i have had my own maintenance business with a friend of mine for almost 2 years now. we live on the isle of man, where conditions are a little different from the uk, but not that much. i have worked in a gardening company (ie. 3 men and a van not big contractors) for about 8 years before i went solo. i was being paid between £7 and £9 an hour as a semi skilled labourer...altho by the time i hit £9 i was almost up there with the boss. my own business was charging £12 an hour per man on the job and i have just tentatively put my rate up to £15 per hour...£14 if the places are regulars ie 1-2 days a week and almost all year round. this is definately worth it as it tells your customer that you value their custom ( you have to tell them you would usually charge £15 obviously). i would rather work at this slightly cheaper rate with regulars as my own personal work method favours regular work rather than higher rated (£18-20/hr hit and run jobs...winter can wipe you out if you dont have the work there.
big companies i know over here charge an average of £18/hr...and that's just for labourers with a forman in charge. but they can do a job very quickly with more man power and usually bigger equipment. so i have found the size of your business and equipment is also something to consider when looking at what your rate should be and this often needs explaining to clients.
wicked!!

[Garden of Eden]

Hi, Great blog show. I have been running gardening business since beginning Feb 2008. All customers to date have been by wom (word of mouth)through my parish community. I charge for all gardening work £15ph min. However, thinking of charging £18ph for non regulars. I do have some regular customers at 12ph... these were my first customers! I have quoted for one off gardening task (4/5 hours) but this can be tricky. Should I be charging differently depending on work involvede.g. grass cutting/strimming, hedge cutting etc?
I'm interested to know from bloggers best way to market my businss... I'll start a new blog.

[Philip Voice]

Some more great additions to the debate here.
I don't think I need to add anything because Neil's and GOE posts speak volumes.

Thanks again

Phil

[Outer Space gardening]

Great Blog. I'm struggling with pricing in London. Provide a 'better' service and am fed up with monthly payers paying late. I think I need to eliminate monthly options. Does everyone get paid on the day? Also struggling with rewarding regulars and charging demanding one timers. Passionate about my job, but the admin and driving are taking their toll...