Help in the garden

I would suggest getting references as well as quotes. I have a new gardener starting in June as the present one is moving away. Finding someone is a nightmare especially one who knows what a weed is. I was lucky this chap is starting up on his own and fee of £22.50 per hour is very reasonable. Fingers crossed it works out ok.

I once had a potential gardener who wanted me to buy him a ride on mower!! As our land is very hilly not a sensible idea - if it was I would have used it myself.

I plan to be with her the whole time "helping" .....

Luckygirl
I once let a lad loose with the petrol mower and he mowed my flower bed! True the flowers were still in bud so he had to be forgiven.
"Weeds" are another thing to watch.
I even had to restrict my brother to only removing nettles and dock or buttercup and ground elder. Leave anything you're not sure of.

I have a gardener for 3 hours a week. She charges £25 an hour and brings her own equipment.
It's mostly lawn mowing, pruning, weeding.
She has a horticulture qualification so I can ask her advice and share our joys.
She has been helping me create a natural meadow for the past 5 years. It's getting there!

It is expensive but it's a massive garden and means I can enjoy it without always feeling guilty.

I am about to put my house on the market and losing my garden is one of my biggest regrets. It's a huge property so I let out a flat in it which helps pay the bills.

I also host HelpX volunteers who have worked in the grounds over the years.
They have built raised beds, chopped trees, repaired paths etc. I have to give them bed and board but it's a great way of getting big jobs done.
www.helpx.net

I have a Spanish helper booked for a fortnight in June.

I have managed to rustle up a schoolgirl daughter of a friend who is coming tomorrow - I think I will need to keep an eye on her so that she does not pull out all my plants!

I'm so pleased you didn't go with the first quote.

The fact that the lady gardeners are fully booked points to them being a good company.

Take it easy and don't do too much yourself as 'a weed is just a flower no one likes.'

Hopefully they'll find time to sort out your garden for you in the coming weeks.

We pay £25 per hour. No grasscutting - we have a robot mower.

Sadly the lady gardeners are fully booked so i'm on their waiting list. This latest spell of fine weather has enabled me to do quite a lot of weeding myself this year and here in the north the scorching hot temperatures have missed us so I've been quietly getting on with some maintenance too.
I have to take breaks every quarter of an hour or so.
Thanks for your tips and advice, I'll get there in the end.

bridie54

Do make sure it is an actual gardener you get and not just someone who cuts grass, chops everything calling it pruning, and weeding out plants thinking they are weeds.
This happened to my frail elderly MIL who had a so called gardener who was weeding out plants which i had grown and planted for her.

Yes, that too!

The one we found knows her plants.

Do make sure it is an actual gardener you get and not just someone who cuts grass, chops everything calling it pruning, and weeding out plants thinking they are weeds.
This happened to my frail elderly MIL who had a so called gardener who was weeding out plants which i had grown and planted for her.

I'm so pleased you have decided to ask for other quotes ExDancer.

It will be interesting to know how much the firm of lady gardeners ask.
I'm certain it will be a lot less than the quote you have.

Desddemona put it much more succinctly than I did.

"A complete and utter rip off!"

Should add - yes, get three quotes for the first clearing from recommendations, perhaps on a local Facebook page? Then find someone to come once or twice a month.

It does all get too much when you get older. We can do some but not like we used to.

I would suggest you get a quote for a general clear up to get things under control quickly, cutting back overgrown shrubs and clearing weedy beds. Then have a couple of hours a month or a fortnight if it is a larger garden.

Yes, what Gin suggests.

£50 for both of them per hour might be the going rate where you are - as long as they take away all the prunings etc too and don't leave you to deal with them.

We've just found someone who was recommended; she is coming for a couple of hours a fortnight and charges £20 ph. She works so hard it's looking altogether different already.

It depends what you want doing, the man who cuts our lawns does heavy pruning too so she doesn't need to do that.

Shop around 😊

I paid my gardener £15 an hour but we had no beds. It was just hedge and lawn trimming and he used to do it all in an hour. I think £25 is about right for weeding/tidying so get some more quotes

I would suggest you get a quote for a general clear up to get things under control quickly, cutting back overgrown shrubs and clearing weedy beds. Then have a couple of hours a month or a fortnight if it is a larger garden.

I pay my gardener £25 an hour in the south and she comes every fortnight for two hours. She does all the heavy and down on your knees stuff and I do what I can and also now have time to work in the greenhouse. At the moment it is bursting with young plants waiting to go out.

ExDancer

Well, he came, and quoted £50 per man-hour, starting with a "blitz" of 2 men for a day to get things under control, followed by fortnightly visits for maintenance.

I must look like a soft touch.

A complete and utter rip off!!

I have no doubt in my mind Blue14 that he saw a small, frail old lady and the £ signs popped up in front of his eyes. I was not at all surprised that his estimate was so out of touch. it's put me off rather. Sad isn't it?
I have asked another firm (of lady gardeners) to give me an estimate, and will try AgeUK as well as any others I can find locally.

Age UK provides a handyman service in Some areas. I don’t know if they do gardening but it would be worth contacting your local branch to ask. If they don’t they might offer suggestions

Do any of your neighbours/friends have gardeners?

Maybe worth asking them for recommendations.

Have you had other people to look at the garden?

I'm in the Southeast and the going rate here is £25/30 per hour although I do know someone who pays £40.

I think it's possible that these men are taking advantage of your age and frailty.

Do think about getting other quotes as I think this really is unreasonable for a small garden.

I have the opposite problem in that the garden and the jobs are too small and no-one wants to be bothered with them. I get it - they have a living to make - but it is pretty frustrating.

Of dear ExDancer this sounds like a great deal to pay.

2 men for a day at £50 each so for the day could be £800!!
Is the garden very large or in a very bad state?

I think it might be worth getting another quote.

Well, he came, and quoted £50 per man-hour, starting with a "blitz" of 2 men for a day to get things under control, followed by fortnightly visits for maintenance.

I must look like a soft touch.

I pay a lovely lady £25 an hour for 2 hours a month . I can mow the lawn and weed, she does all the edges and anything else that needs doing. Last time she cleared a very overgrown small flowerbed.