I've just had a quote from a gardener to do my garden and I want to pass it
across you people to check if this is reasonable.

I have a small garden and don't have time to maintain it but I love a well
tended garden. The quote I got was £15 per week (£60 per month) for time as
needed and this includes plants / shrubs. Front garden is about 9 square
meters and back is about 16 square meters. This is a year round fee and
plants will be changed according to season. The current garden has nothing
in there, grass front and back and two borders on each garden with just
earth so this fee includes initial design and installation.

How does this sound? As you can tell, I have no idea so thanks for the info.

Andy


Andy, there are some issues that you have to look at to know whether you're
getting value for money, and getting the job done to a standard you want for
the right price. As a professional gardener I'd want to answer some important
questions before I decided whether I wanted to get locked in to having this
person doing my garden every week (or at all).

!) How old are they, and are they physically up to doing the job you want done?
You could come off badly if you have a young fit person with no/little
experience, or have an experienced person who isn't physically capable (or who
is just very slow).

2) What plants exactly are you getting, will you own them, and how large will
they be? You don't want inappropriate plants, or plants of an inappropriate
size.

3) Where do you live? Rates for gardening vary wildly regionally, and even
here in London I see prices per hour varying from under £7-50/hour up to over
£20/hour (sometimes plus Vat afterwards).

If I were you I'd get a better idea about what you're getting and compare a few
other gardeners with this one. Ask if he/she's got photos of previous gardens
worked on, references, etc. Sometimes a call to an existing customer is well
worth it in the long run. Personally I have different rates depending on what
service I'm offering my customers. I'm also a soft touch and generally do a
reduced rate for senior citizens/pensioners.

My best advice to you would be to ask about what plants exactly you're going to
get, and see if you can employ this person on a trial basis to start. If they
don't want to do this, then I'd steer well clear.!

All the best, and sorry about the lengthy mail,

Dave.