Fair rate for a gardener

[stewie]

Hi, Im thinking of doing a bit of gardening on my days off, I work 4 on 4 off and have loads of time spare, what would you consider a fair rate would be ? was thinking £7.50 an hour , £30 for half a day and £60 for a full day, sound about right ? oh yeah discount for oaps as well, maybe 25% off ?

[Neeja]

Depends on how qualified you are at what you're doing. My uncle owns a landscape-gardening business, and even when he's doing general gardening work he could afford to pay me £5/hour during the summer for helping out.

I'd say that the rates you've got listed there would be fair though - particularly the OAP discount :)

[stewie]

Cheers Chris, no qualifications at all tbh, but I do know my way round a garden though, just want to earn a bit of spare dosh for a deposit for my next bike, plus I like being outside.

[carty]

Rate per hour seems fair but I can't see many oldies being able to afford the £60 full day charge. That's about their weekly pension isn't it?!

[stewie]

Yeah good point, I reckon most of it would just tidying the gardens up really, wouldnt be a big job and I would probably only charge an older person a couple of hours work, you know something reasonable

[Stingo]

Might be worth considering quoting 'per job' as it were...

[stewie]

Need to look into getting some petrol tools, you know mower, strimmer etc and yep quoting per job, was looking at offering my services to estate agents as well, saw a couple houses for sale this morning with their front gardens all overgrown, be worth there while to have em tided up I suppose

[Stingo]

Need to look into getting some petrol tools, you know mower, strimmer etc and yep quoting per job, was looking at offering my services to estate agents as well, saw a couple houses for sale this morning with their front gardens all overgrown, be worth there while to have em tided up I suppose

Now there's a good idea...

[Ed]

£7.50/hr is dirt cheap. I would have thought £10 an hour more like it.

As for oldies -well if they have a large garden then probably they have £££ too.

[plowsie]

I think thats a great idea mate.

Let us know how you get on. Can you mow the front lawn of the org too please? Those hanging baskets need a water too :)

[Amplimator]

Im a qualified landscaper with nearly 15 years experience, now run my own company and charge £15 per hour for general maintenance or £150 per day general labour (bigger jobs)

that is just labour charges, other charges can and usually are added (ie tool hire/wear and tear petrol etc etc)

HTH
Amp

[stewie]

Im a qualified landscaper with nearly 15 years experience, now run my own company and charge £15 per hour for general maintenance or £150 per day general labour (bigger jobs)

that is just labour charges, other charges can and usually are added (ie tool hire/wear and tear petrol etc etc)

HTH
Amp
Thanks, see thats another thing,I dont want to step on others peeps toes, want to do a proper job for a proper rate.Am I mad ?

[carty]

As for oldies -well if they have a large garden then probably they have £££ too.

2 points;

1) You don't need to have a large garden to want a gardener in your old age

2) There's probably a lot of old people who live in houses with decent sized gardens who got the house cheap 'back in the day', so they might not necessarily be loaded. My grandparents lived in a bungalow they bought for about £8000 a looooong time ago and it had lots of garden, front and back, but there's no way they could afford a gardener. That's why I used to get roped in to doing it! :( :p

[Shellywoozle]

£7.50 is too cheap, £10 minimum. If you have to take rubbish away charge for that !! I would also do quote per job. I have a mate that has just set up and he is run off his feet, chargin £15 per hour too. Charges for taking debris etc etc away.

Good luck

[Amplimator]

Always charge to take rubbish away!

reason being its illegal to take it to your local waste site if its commercial waste. find a good recycle company that will make it into compost/chippings, its a cheap rate per-ton and if you have an account get major discounts on their products...it all adds up! its also good to tell customers their waste is being recycled, everyone likes a green company! (even my brushcutters/mowers burns fuel twice to reduce emissions...apparently)

always buy good tools too!

If like you say you know a weed from a plant then no, your not mad! theres always money out there you just gotta find it. try and keep it local, best advertising is word of mouth esp where the older customers are concerned.

and finally, work out your price per hour and stick to it. do a good job and lick their shoes and they will find you other jobs as well as return themselves.

go for it and unless its on my patch good luck to ya ;)

[Bibio]

top tip: try to get regulars in same street area.. cut grass/hedges TURN UP when you say you will. tell them you will be back in 2-3 weeks depending on what customer wants. as a guide i have a 10x7mtr lawn and its a tenner to cut but i give him £15 coz he turns up when he is supposed to, its 20 mins work..

he's also a mate and in the summer he can make up to £200 a day just doing his rounds. he just cuts grass/hedges...

[dirtydog]

Definitely charge to take the rubbish away, I always factor in a fee for it when I quote for a job as my local dump charge me a minimum of £35

[timwilky]

My brother is doing a bit of gardening whilst attempting to be an ebay millionaire (http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/The-quality-clearance-store__W0QQ_armrsZ1) whilst trying to cope with unemployment. (No he is not claiming, he can earn more in a day than the state would give him for a week)

He sort of knows the local guy that owns a few Ducati stealerships and knew him to be in need of somebody to maintain the grounds around his home. He volunteered and got the job, two days a week and at present he is having to take on extra help, He is charging £100/day. As for waste, it is not a problem as there is plenty of space on site to dump the waste

[stewie]

Cheers guys, will have a think about the rates and as afr as the waste is concerned, well my missus is the manager of a local waste disposal company, hooray :D