How much should you pay a gardener?

I don't have a gardener - yet. But if it does become necessary I would expect to pay upwards of £20 if they brought their own equipment and cleaned up properly.

All too often, when people employ these services they fail to comprehend the cost of good tools, transport and personal insurance costs to the service provider.

Looking at it from the other end of the spectrum - I would not put my gardening gloves on for any less.

Surprisingly gardeners here in the Highlands are expensive. They can pick and choose. I have just parted company with mine for two reasons. He charges £30 an hour and quoted £250 for some extra work which only took 4 hours. I know I agreed the price but felt a small reduction would have been in order. Then, after saying ‘HE wouldn’t let me down ‘ he didn’t turn up last week. I told him that I can cope with the grass not being cut but was upset with the lack of communication, I waited in three days - not happy with a stranger in the garden and the dogs getting upset in the house. So I am back to cutting it myself again.

M0nica

Chestnut Even in Oxfordshire we would not expect to pay that much to remove a tree.

We had a large tree removed in our garden in 2019. We used a large reputable firm of local tree surgeons. I think the bill came in around £1,000. The job was completed in a day.

I'm just guessing it would cost thousands, but maybe I'm wrong. However, ours is a very big tree. Was your tree that big?

Chestnut I have been looking for a picture, but cannot find it. But our tree was roughly three times the size of yours. It was an ENORMOUS hazel. Oor tree surgeon had never seen such a big one. It had six intertwined trunks and was double the width of yours all round. It spanned about 30 feet wide. It had to be removed as all the trunks had started rotting. I am regrowing it from the boll.

We had a yew tree much the size of yours, or only slightly bigger removed about 10 years ago, that was well under £1,000. However in each case we have not had the roots grubbed out - and that does cost money.

Why not get a couple of estimates, then you will know how much it will cost, even if you do not go ahead with the job.

Thanks M0nica will get some quotes. I was honestly expecting a massive charge as the tree is higher than the house and quite wide. I can't even imagine a tree three times that size. Next to our fir is a huge beech tree but it's in next door's garden. You can just see it in the photo but not in full leaf! They are both much too close to the house which worries me.

Obviously if it's in an awkward spot where there are buildings/other gardens close by and not great access it's more difficult I was told two whole days to take ours out. If you have 2 days and 2 or 3 people that's got to be 150 + in labour per person per day so 2 days is 600+ for 2 people and 900 for 3
There will be VAT on it too most likely as even relatively small business are likely to be registered if they do this kind of job fairly often.

I don't think it's surprising that it's 1000 plus.

BigBertha1

I sleep with my gardener that seems to satisfy him.

Would you like to try your luck with a tree surgeon for me? Please?

BigBertha1 - that made me smile - must the best plan, unfortunately the one I used to sleep died several years ago - very inconsiderate of him! Thank you all for your words of wisdom. I have found one who wants £15 per hour which seems to be quite reasonable.

It cost me £1,00 to have a large, diseased beech taken down in my garden. It was a major undertaking so I employed a tree surgeon whose fees included getting reluctant permission from the council to remove it. The tree had a TPO on it.

My late husband and I had been trying for several years to get permission. The council arborealist admitted that the fungus damaging it would, without warning, cause it to fall. Any damage sustained would be down to us as the owners!

I pay my current gardener £22 an hour, pretty standard in my area.

We had a large overhanging branch removed from our neighbours tree...it cost £200 and took 35min to do it...

we were recently quoted about £35 to £40 per hour here in London for garden work.It is a lot to pay at the moment. I think if custom does dry up because of the cost of living, this price may reduce.

It depends what you call a 'gardener'. I would be happy to pay a lot more for someone who truly knows her or his stuff. Many so called gardeners have not got a clue.

I have gardening help one day a month and he brings his petrol hedge trimmer but uses all our hand tools (pruners and so on). Because we have a wooded area, we have someone else (specialist) to help maintain that. He brings all his equipment include harness for tree surgery and chain saw. He has to have a licence to use that.

Both charge £15 per hour. Woodland man had just put it up to £17:50 due to fuel costs (travel and equipment).

We live in Cornwall.

Fleurpepper

It depends what you call a 'gardener'. I would be happy to pay a lot more for someone who truly knows her or his stuff. Many so called gardeners have not got a clue.

I agree. As I said, our gardener just cuts things back which keeps things tidy but often too much. He hacked a large but beautiful buddleia back to the core and it is just a dead stump. I was not happy. He is not a gardener, he's a man with a machine who hacks plants.

Love it big Berthal me too.

Just had conifers cut and some back hedges cost me £600 but I knew my husband couldn’t do that himself. And there was an awful lot to take away so I was happy to pay it.

Our gardener is a garden designer as well and she has planned and planted our front garden and one bed in the back. She makes really good suggestions for planting and moving stuff around.

She makes fabulous door wreaths at Christmas, runs courses and is so young she will definitely 'see us out'.

I'm sure the price varies but I live in a pretty cheap part of the UK and pay £15 ph.
It took me years to find someone. Many, many "gardeners" quoted and promised then never turned up.
My guy lives in the village. He's hopeless as a gardener as he doesn't know a weed from a flower, but fine for cutting grass and hedges.

I pay my gardener £22.50 an hour. He brings all his own tools, lawnmower etc.

Kittylester, you’ve hit the jackpot I think. It’s clear getting a gardener isn’t easy and yiu have a talented enthusiast
I have a retired police officer who directs
His young assistant in lawn mowing and basic weeding. I’m just relieved to have found them

Just to clarify my gardener also does the ironing and hoovering in return for all meals cooked from fresh and his washing. There is a tariff for additional services but these are often related to high days and holidays and a pro rata rate applied.

I had one at £15 an hour, he retired and my new one, found with great difficulty, charges £25 an hour. That made my eyes water but seems to be about average around here in N. Bucks

Kittylester, I agree that being much younger and so hopefully " seeing you out" is quite important. Our neighbours gardener has just had to be retired - he was 92 and although physically fit he was no longer mentally able to make the one hour commute each way by public transport. She has had to start again with a new, female gardener who is mid thirties and she hopes this will " see her out" .

Chestnut

Fleurpepper

It depends what you call a 'gardener'. I would be happy to pay a lot more for someone who truly knows her or his stuff. Many so called gardeners have not got a clue.

I agree. As I said, our gardener just cuts things back which keeps things tidy but often too much. He hacked a large but beautiful buddleia back to the core and it is just a dead stump. I was not happy. He is not a gardener, he's a man with a machine who hacks plants.

They are called mow and blow services round here!

From my eyrie (sewing room window), I watch the activities of the 'Gardening Services' team in action across the road. Huge, spivvy but smart vans, full of eye-watering electrical gizmos and PPE. Most have no visible inkling of how to 'garden' - like the young one I watched whose long-handled lopper was used like a bowler's throwing arm to hack at out of reach branches.
They whizz in and whizz out.

What many of us seek is a 'plants person' who enjoys and delights in their work for you and is knowledgeable, a dying breed, I fear.

£15 to £25 an hour is about standard I think