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charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy,
you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. kate |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 1 Jan, 13:28, "Kate Morgan" wrote:
My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners *wont do less than 2 hours work. The family *are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. kate Just a few thoughts from someone who made a living that way for a time. After a couple of years I went into private service and had a more secure and rewarding career and wasn't much worse off financially. You don't get a lot of gardening done in less than 2 hours. You're probably thinking - 25 quid an hour - 40 hour week = £1000. It doesn't work like that. The gardener can't charge for time between jobs, time off for bad weather, time spent promoting their services, time spent on paperwork and on and on and on; so in fact it's difficult to accumulate a great many billable hours. Then there's the overheads like transport, tools, machinery etc, yard rent etc so £25 per hour isn't that bad for a skilled professional but of course not all jobbing gardeners are, so it's worth looking at their credentials. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 1 Jan, 13:28, "Kate Morgan" wrote:
My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. Expensive place, Edinburgh. Long way, too, to take trimmings and rubbish to dump them. Parking problems and costs. Don't forget that most gardeners should be obeying the law on "Trade waste", and have disposal licences or pay the ludicrous charges for disposal otherwise. There are two sorts of people in the trade, it seems to me. Young people with a family who will work hard and quickly, efficiently, and to a plan. They will need the sort of figure you are quoting, maybe up to £35 per hour, to deal with the plant investment and replacement, training (seen the chainsaw regulations?), insurance, rubbish regulations, time off and non-productive time. Then there are the old sods who like pottering round in other people's gardens and who charge up to £10 an hour, where they get bugger all done in that time, and tend to do what they want not what you want. It's the difference in trimming a hedge in 3 hours or 3 days, and whether the clippings get taken away. Which is best? |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
The message from "Kate Morgan" contains these words: My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. A small (father and son) gardening company in Perth charge £8 an hour for general 'tidying' work, cutting grass, hoeing beds, light pruning, etc. but that is on a regular maintenance agreement. They may have charged more for the initial work undertaken, I wouldn't know. I wouldn't be prepared to pay more than double that, even in Edinburgh... Someone cuts the grass for us, trims hedges occasionally, uses his own machinery, tidies up after himself etc. and charges £15 per hour. The £25 might be for two people, perhaps? -- Sacha Not sure Sacha, I think it was only one person but what is annoying is the fact that they want to do 2 hours work, I still think that £50 to get ones grass cut and a bit of gentle sorting out is excessive. I appreciate what Rod says re. costs etc and I note Steve's comments. Maybe my family don't want a gardener at all, maybe what they want someone who is retired and just needs a gentle job with a few pounds in cash and bacon butties at the end of a bit of work. I could do with some-one like that but no one around here in Gloucestershire wants a little job. I have ride-on mowers strimmers brush-cutters etc.etc so they would not even have to use their own tools but we still cannot find anyone to help. kate |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
There are two sorts of people in the trade, it seems to me. Young
people with a family who will work hard and quickly, efficiently, and to a plan. They will need the sort of figure you are quoting, maybe up to £35 per hour, to deal with the plant investment and replacement, training (seen the chainsaw regulations?), insurance, rubbish regulations, time off and non-productive time. Then there are the old sods who like pottering round in other people's gardens and who charge up to £10 an hour, where they get bugger all done in that time, and tend to do what they want not what you want. It's the difference in trimming a hedge in 3 hours or 3 days, and whether the clippings get taken away. Which is best? but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 1 Jan, 21:05, "Kate Morgan" wrote:
but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. Aye. But the professionals will have the same costs while they are doing that as if they were doing landscaping. Sounds like you need a lawn specialist - some will charge around £20 per job, usually doing a suburban lawn in about 20 minutes. There are also companies that will take a lawn on contract, for a fixed amount per year. I know nothing about them. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 1/1/08 20:59, in article , "Kate
Morgan" wrote: The message from "Kate Morgan" contains these words: My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. A small (father and son) gardening company in Perth charge £8 an hour for general 'tidying' work, cutting grass, hoeing beds, light pruning, etc. but that is on a regular maintenance agreement. They may have charged more for the initial work undertaken, I wouldn't know. I wouldn't be prepared to pay more than double that, even in Edinburgh... Someone cuts the grass for us, trims hedges occasionally, uses his own machinery, tidies up after himself etc. and charges £15 per hour. The £25 might be for two people, perhaps? -- Sacha Not sure Sacha, I think it was only one person but what is annoying is the fact that they want to do 2 hours work, I still think that £50 to get ones grass cut and a bit of gentle sorting out is excessive. I appreciate what Rod says re. costs etc and I note Steve's comments. Maybe my family don't want a gardener at all, maybe what they want someone who is retired and just needs a gentle job with a few pounds in cash and bacon butties at the end of a bit of work. I could do with some-one like that but no one around here in Gloucestershire wants a little job. I have ride-on mowers strimmers brush-cutters etc.etc so they would not even have to use their own tools but we still cannot find anyone to help. kate The chap that does ours is a retired policeman. He set up with his father who then died and now D carries on alone. He does house painting and putting up shelves and jobs like that in the winter, if he's not doing hedge cutting etc. Your daughter and son in law might find that a couple of hours a week from themselves keeps things as they want them, perhaps? After all, while the grass might need to be cut every week, hedges don't need to be, nor trees pruned! If they are too busy to do it themselves, or the garden is too big, it might be worth asking a local gardening club, putting up a postcard in a local PO or just asking whoever cuts the grass in their local churchyard. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
snip The chap that does ours is a retired policeman. He set up with his father who then died and now D carries on alone. He does house painting and putting up shelves and jobs like that in the winter, if he's not doing hedge cutting etc. Your daughter and son in law might find that a couple of hours a week from themselves keeps things as they want them, perhaps? After all, while the grass might need to be cut every week, hedges don't need to be, nor trees pruned! If they are too busy to do it themselves, or the garden is too big, it might be worth asking a local gardening club, putting up a postcard in a local PO or just asking whoever cuts the grass in their local churchyard. -- Sacha We had a chap that sounds very much like yours Sacha, tho not a retired policeman - he is having a hip replacement op so we do not know if he will be able to carry on with his odd jobs or not, we do miss him very much, being a countryman he knew what to do, I never needed to tell him. In the past daughter has managed the garden on her own but our 8 month old grand-daughter has put a stop to that :-) However a notice in the local PO is a good idea. kate |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 2/1/08 09:01, in article , "Kate
Morgan" wrote: snip The chap that does ours is a retired policeman. He set up with his father who then died and now D carries on alone. He does house painting and putting up shelves and jobs like that in the winter, if he's not doing hedge cutting etc. Your daughter and son in law might find that a couple of hours a week from themselves keeps things as they want them, perhaps? After all, while the grass might need to be cut every week, hedges don't need to be, nor trees pruned! If they are too busy to do it themselves, or the garden is too big, it might be worth asking a local gardening club, putting up a postcard in a local PO or just asking whoever cuts the grass in their local churchyard. -- Sacha We had a chap that sounds very much like yours Sacha, tho not a retired policeman - he is having a hip replacement op so we do not know if he will be able to carry on with his odd jobs or not, we do miss him very much, being a countryman he knew what to do, I never needed to tell him. In the past daughter has managed the garden on her own but our 8 month old grand-daughter has put a stop to that :-) However a notice in the local PO is a good idea. kate Ah yes, babies truly are complete tyrants! BTW, I'm sure your daughter will be sure to check the background of anyone who answers her ad! ;-) -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
In article ,
says... There are two sorts of people in the trade, it seems to me. Young people with a family who will work hard and quickly, efficiently, and to a plan. They will need the sort of figure you are quoting, maybe up to £35 per hour, to deal with the plant investment and replacement, training (seen the chainsaw regulations?), insurance, rubbish regulations, time off and non-productive time. Then there are the old sods who like pottering round in other people's gardens and who charge up to £10 an hour, where they get bugger all done in that time, and tend to do what they want not what you want. It's the difference in trimming a hedge in 3 hours or 3 days, and whether the clippings get taken away. Which is best? but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate My son started doing work like this, but quickly found that unless someone wanted him for at least a half day he could never get enough hours in to make enough to keep body and soul together, he now avoids any "small" tidying jobs as he would have to charge so much (he is still too young to have the nerve!) he finds people will pay for large heavy jobs so that is what he does, particularly clearing as he has a waste licence. I know other people who do contract gardening for holiday lets, hotels etc and they all do a minimum 2 hours at a time. So it sounds like you need someone topping up a pension or similar (do check your insurance as they are unlikely to have their own) -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 2 Jan, 09:43, Charlie Pridham wrote:
In article , says... My son started doing work like this, but quickly found that unless someone wanted him for at least a half day he could never get enough hours in to make enough to keep body and soul together, he now avoids any "small" tidying jobs as he would have to charge so much (he is still too young to have the nerve!) he finds people will pay for large heavy jobs so that is what he does, particularly clearing as he has a waste licence. I know other people who do contract gardening for holiday lets, hotels etc and they all do a minimum 2 hours at a time. So it sounds like you need someone topping up a pension or similar (do check your insurance as they are unlikely to have their own) Yes, and you still do need to know that they know what they're doing. There's still this attitude amongst employers of both jobbing and full time gardeners that gardening is an unskilled job. They think and so do a lot of the so called gardeners that pruning is just hacking a bit off things now and again - they don't know why nor do they know what to expect as a result and they don't watch the results (consequences) of their pruning as they develop. That's just one example. A significant amount of my work when I was self employed was rescuing gardens after a few years of these people. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... There are two sorts of people in the trade, it seems to me. Young people with a family who will work hard and quickly, efficiently, and to a plan. They will need the sort of figure you are quoting, maybe up to £35 per hour, to deal with the plant investment and replacement, training (seen the chainsaw regulations?), insurance, rubbish regulations, time off and non-productive time. Then there are the old sods who like pottering round in other people's gardens and who charge up to £10 an hour, where they get bugger all done in that time, and tend to do what they want not what you want. It's the difference in trimming a hedge in 3 hours or 3 days, and whether the clippings get taken away. Which is best? but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional . Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
Ah yes, babies truly are complete tyrants! BTW, I'm sure your daughter
will be sure to check the background of anyone who answers her ad! ;-) -- Sacha Babes are complete tyrants LOL of course you mean that Sacha :-) the house is so quiet and empty now that Jamie Anne has gone back to Scotland :-( and yes indeed all people would be checked out thoroughly kate |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
snip Which is best?
but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional . Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. yes indeed I could fly up to Scotland every couple of weeks and do the job myself. kate |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... snip Which is best? but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional . Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. yes indeed I could fly up to Scotland every couple of weeks and do the job myself. kate Why not it will keep u from keeping the minimum wage at an all time low |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 3/1/08 11:56, in article , "Kate
Morgan" wrote: Ah yes, babies truly are complete tyrants! BTW, I'm sure your daughter will be sure to check the background of anyone who answers her ad! ;-) -- Sacha Babes are complete tyrants LOL of course you mean that Sacha :-) the house is so quiet and empty now that Jamie Anne has gone back to Scotland :-( and yes indeed all people would be checked out thoroughly kate I'm always secretly amazed and amused to see how thoroughly sensible adults can turn into attention-seeking slaves when a baby is around - including myself. We had 7 adults in the house on Christmas Day and one one-year old and the rivalry for her smiles and attentions was very funny to watch! Bouncing up and down on an adult's knees and trying to grab Granny's earrings was welcomed as a sign of true genius unfurling. ;-)) -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 3/1/08 11:59, in article , "Kate
Morgan" wrote: snip Which is best? but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional . Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. yes indeed I could fly up to Scotland every couple of weeks and do the job myself. kate The baby being no attraction at all, of course! -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 3/1/08 14:15, in article , "pied
piper" wrote: "Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... snip Which is best? but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional . Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. yes indeed I could fly up to Scotland every couple of weeks and do the job myself. kate Why not it will keep u from keeping the minimum wage at an all time low Look, nobody is trying to gyp anyone else. What is being asked is what is a fair and reasonable wage in a particular area. This varies enormously throughout the entire country, as does the cost of rent, food, water etc. If what *you* are being paid doesn't strike you as right or fair, then perhaps you are in the wrong career. Or perhaps you should do as Rod did and go into private service on an estate. We don't know if the people charging the £25 per hour are qualified or whether they are merely people offering to cut the grass and trim back the trees but with no actual horticultural knowledge or training. I certainly wouldn't employ a carpenter, plumber, roofer or brickie who had no skills in those jobs and nor would I trust valued shrubs to someone who knew nothing about pruning. But asking someone just to keep a garden tidy is not in the same league and that seems to me to be what is being enquired about *in the main* - not a ruthless land-owner trying to grind someone down to the lowest living wage for highly skilled work on an arboretum filled with horticultural rarities! -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
Which is best? but its only cutting a bit of grass which would go on the compost heap and a few twigs that would burn, not doing a big job. kate If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional . Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. yes indeed I could fly up to Scotland every couple of weeks and do the job myself. kate Why not it will keep u from keeping the minimum wage at an all time low Oh for goodness sake, I wish I had never asked, you don't know me and I don't know you apart from being on the n/g, I refuse to quarrel. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... The message from "pied piper" contains these words: If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional. Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. There's no need to be nasty to Kate, she is quite right to question the fact that someone is charging £25 an hour! I own a roofing company, and I pay my roofers £15 an hour, and I have no trouble whatsoever getting good workmen for that rate! So u pay them £15 an hour but what do u charge an hour including cost of materials etc. Plus the overheads of running your business? Plus gardening requires more skill and knowledge than roofing. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"VivienB" wrote in message ... On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 20:59:10 -0000, "Kate Morgan" wrote: I could do with some-one like that but no one around here in Gloucestershire wants a little job. I have ride-on mowers strimmers brush-cutters etc.etc so they would not even have to use their own tools but we still cannot find anyone to help. I don't know where in Gloucestershire you are Kate, so this may or may not be useful. I moved to look after my father, but let the house I have in Nailsworth near Stroud. I put in gardeners in Spring and Autumn regularly and also if the house is empty the garden needs keeping in order. I have found Kingston's Garden Services very good - they are two young chaps who have set up in business fairly recently. They are based in Cambridge (Gloucestershire!) but do travel quite a bit to jobs. I have found them reliable and conscientious, especially important when I cannot be there myself to keep an eye on gardeners. Last summer/autumn they were charging £12/man-hour. I do not know if they have a minimum - I would, if I were in a similar line of business! Contact them at: kingstonlad@ (the same ISP as you) or telephone 01453 890043 -- Regards, VivienB --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you very much Vivien, Cambridge is very very close to us, just down the river, not far at all and that would be brilliant for us :-) thanks again kate near Chepstow |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message
... I own a roofing company, and I pay my roofers £15 an hour, and I have no trouble whatsoever getting good workmen for that rate! but how much do you charge your clients for labour, overheads and profit? pk |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... The message from "pied piper" contains these words: "Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... The message from "pied piper" contains these words: If its that simple do it yourself if u want a proper job done then pay a professional. Im sure u wouldnt object paying that amount for a roofer,brickie,chippie,plumber etc etc a gardener is just as skilled and has the same overheads . What would be left after tax ni transport fuel etc etc . Its ok for the odd jobbers who top up their pensions and just doddle about but for the self employed who need to make a living out of it u need to charge the going rate. I wouldnt take anything on that was less than 5k per year. And I find people like u quite insulting to the trade. There's no need to be nasty to Kate, she is quite right to question the fact that someone is charging £25 an hour! I own a roofing company, and I pay my roofers £15 an hour, and I have no trouble whatsoever getting good workmen for that rate! So u pay them £15 an hour but what do u charge an hour including cost of materials etc. Plus the overheads of running your business? Plus gardening requires more skill and knowledge than roofing. I don't charge by the hour, the charge is per metre... "Keeping a garden tidy" most certainly does not require more skill and knowledge! THAT was the question that Kate asked, was it not? Her daughter wants the garden TIDIED, not LANDSCAPED! AND the word is YOU, we don't use textspeak in here... I can type and use what I like imagine if gardeners charged by the metre. Yet another idiot who thinks gardening is not a skilled job why are U even here? |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... The message from "pied piper" contains these words: "Anne Jackson" wrote: The message from "pied piper" contains these words: Plus gardening requires more skill and knowledge than roofing. "Keeping a garden tidy" most certainly does not require more skill and knowledge! THAT was the question that Kate asked, was it not? Her daughter wants the garden TIDIED, not LANDSCAPED! AND the word is YOU, we don't use textspeak in here... I can type and use what I like imagine if gardeners charged by the metre. Yet another idiot who thinks gardening is not a skilled job why are U even here? What am *I* doing here? I might ask you the same question... I was answering Kate's question, and it's not me that's disagreeing with everyone! -- AnneJ U r a woman its ur job to disagree with everyone |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
In message , Kate Morgan
writes The message from "Kate Morgan" contains these words: My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. A small (father and son) gardening company in Perth charge £8 an hour for general 'tidying' work, cutting grass, hoeing beds, light pruning, etc. but that is on a regular maintenance agreement. They may have charged more for the initial work undertaken, I wouldn't know. I wouldn't be prepared to pay more than double that, even in Edinburgh... Someone cuts the grass for us, trims hedges occasionally, uses his own machinery, tidies up after himself etc. and charges £15 per hour. The £25 might be for two people, perhaps? -- Sacha Not sure Sacha, I think it was only one person but what is annoying is the fact that they want to do 2 hours work, I still think that £50 to get ones grass cut and a bit of gentle sorting out is excessive. surely that is just their way of putting people off who only want smaller jobs? If they can get enough business with that sort of arrangement, not suprising they don't want to bother with the faff or more but smaller jobs -- Chris French |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
Kate Morgan wrote:
My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. I dont think it is expensive. I started out self employed in June, mainly gardening, also home maintenance, but I had planned to do mostly gardening work. After 3 months, it was clear that charging £15/hour would not earn me a living, so I have given up on the gardening side, and now do mostly property maintenance. To show how it wouldnt pay, consider a busy day - out at 8 am, first job at 8:30. 2 hours there, £30., second job booked at 11am. 2 hours, another £30. 3rd job at 1:30, another £30. £90 per day. It'll be 4pm by the time you get to another place, so pretty difficult to get any more done. BUT - getting 3, or even 4, 2 hour jobs in a day is hard to do, you will likely have 20 minutes of grass cutting, then 2 hours of weeding, then a small grass cutting etc, but not 3 2 hours jobs to keep you going all day. And to top this, I started at £10/hr, so many days I was earning £50 or less. Add up the costs - new mower/strimmer/hedge cutter every 2 years - £500+/yr, van - easily £1000/yr. Then you have the waste disposal. If you can get the homeowner to get rid of the waste, then it is great, but many have no facilities to keep the waste, so you need a waste carriers licence - £50/yr. Then pay to dump the waste - £60/tonne, so I reckon £5 a day when working to tip waste. Add on fuel costs, and the many other consumables needed, to stay in business, I would have to charge £20/hr minimum, and do at least 30 hours a week actually working for a customer, and many more hours disposing of waste, ringing up people, cleaning equipment etc. Even then, when overheads/costs are taken off, I would just about be on minimum wage.(as an aside to this, I have kept putting off doing my accounts, as it'll be too depressing to see how little I have earnt in the last 6 months) Then you will have the 1 in 20 ish days where it is too wet to do anything. then the 6 or 7 bank holidays when you are not earning. £25 / hr sounds a lot, but it isnt when all factors are taken into consideration. If however someone was claiming benefits, running round in his car, and fly-tipping his waste, then they probably could charge a lot less. Legitimate, decent traders could not afford to do it much cheaper. Alan. -- To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"A.Lee" wrote in message ... Kate Morgan wrote: My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. I dont think it is expensive. I started out self employed in June, mainly gardening, also home maintenance, but I had planned to do mostly gardening work. After 3 months, it was clear that charging £15/hour would not earn me a living, so I have given up on the gardening side, and now do mostly property maintenance. To show how it wouldnt pay, consider a busy day - out at 8 am, first job at 8:30. 2 hours there, £30., second job booked at 11am. 2 hours, another £30. 3rd job at 1:30, another £30. £90 per day. It'll be 4pm by the time you get to another place, so pretty difficult to get any more done. BUT - getting 3, or even 4, 2 hour jobs in a day is hard to do, you will likely have 20 minutes of grass cutting, then 2 hours of weeding, then a small grass cutting etc, but not 3 2 hours jobs to keep you going all day. And to top this, I started at £10/hr, so many days I was earning £50 or less. Add up the costs - new mower/strimmer/hedge cutter every 2 years - £500+/yr, van - easily £1000/yr. Then you have the waste disposal. If you can get the homeowner to get rid of the waste, then it is great, but many have no facilities to keep the waste, so you need a waste carriers licence - £50/yr. Then pay to dump the waste - £60/tonne, so I reckon £5 a day when working to tip waste. Add on fuel costs, and the many other consumables needed, to stay in business, I would have to charge £20/hr minimum, and do at least 30 hours a week actually working for a customer, and many more hours disposing of waste, ringing up people, cleaning equipment etc. Even then, when overheads/costs are taken off, I would just about be on minimum wage.(as an aside to this, I have kept putting off doing my accounts, as it'll be too depressing to see how little I have earnt in the last 6 months) Then you will have the 1 in 20 ish days where it is too wet to do anything. then the 6 or 7 bank holidays when you are not earning. £25 / hr sounds a lot, but it isnt when all factors are taken into consideration. If however someone was claiming benefits, running round in his car, and fly-tipping his waste, then they probably could charge a lot less. Legitimate, decent traders could not afford to do it much cheaper. Alan. -- People just don't realise how much it costs to run a business. My professional organisation recommends charging 2.5 to 3 times base salary to pay for overheads, provision for holidays, retirement and a host of insurances. Therefore, for a salary of, say, 20k/annum, that means having to earn ~50k. So, allowing for weekends, public holidays, annual holidays (say 15 days) and sick days, that leaves 230 potential working days which, in this case, don't take the weather into account. That translates into 217/day or 27/hour for an 8 hour day (and how many work 8 hours these days?). It also assumes that the order-book is full! My lawn man clears snow in the winter (I live in Canada) and charged me 15 quid to clear the snow off my driveway. It seemed a lot but when I worked it out, he's having to really scrab for a decent living. I am self-employed and have been sick with a rotten cold for the last 2 days and can't do much meaningful work. That put's a lot of pressure on me because I will have to make up for that working weekends and evenings when I get over it. In the OP's case, demanding a minimum of 2 hours work is also reasonable. Someone has to pay for the travel time between jobs and 8x1hour jobs would probably result in a 12 hour day. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On Jan 3, 9:31*pm, chris French
wrote: In message , Kate Morgan writes The message from "Kate Morgan" contains these words: My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden *tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are *£25 per hour but the gardeners *wont do less than 2 hours work. The family *are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. A small (father and son) gardening company in Perth charge £8 an hour for general 'tidying' work, cutting grass, hoeing beds, light pruning, etc. but that is on a regular maintenance agreement. *They may have charged more for the initial work undertaken, I wouldn't know. I wouldn't be prepared to pay more than double that, even in Edinburgh.... Someone cuts the grass for us, trims hedges occasionally, uses his own machinery, tidies up after himself etc. and charges £15 per hour. *The £25 might be for two people, perhaps? -- *Sacha Not sure Sacha, I think it was only one person but *what is annoying is the fact that they want to do 2 hours work, I still think that £50 to get ones grass cut and a bit of gentle sorting out is excessive. surely that is just their way of putting people off who only want smaller jobs? If they can get enough business with that sort of arrangement, not suprising they don't want to bother with the faff or more but smaller jobs -- Chris French- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Hi Chris, long time no hear, how are Helen and the children? Which hospital is she at now? |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... The message from (A.Lee) contains these words: Legitimate, decent traders could not afford to do it much cheaper. The gardeners I know, who charge £8 per man-hour, arrange their work (obviously more efficiently than _you_ do!) so that they are working in the same area one day, then another area the next... That way they are only minutes away from the next job. They are good, clean and tidy workers, and I have recommended them to many of my friends. They will do a one-hour job, no problem! In the summer, they start at 7 or 7:30am, and finish around 8pm. Wintertime hours are fewer, of course. All well and good if u can live on £200 per week get real £8 an hour was what was being charged ten years ago like the previous post said overheads running a business etc its alright for the benefit cheats and oaps earning their beer money U need a reality check join the real world moron. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. why dont the lazy sods do it theirself? |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
Anne Jackson wrote:
The message from (A.Lee) contains these words: Legitimate, decent traders could not afford to do it much cheaper. The gardeners I know, who charge £8 per man-hour, arrange their work (obviously more efficiently than _you_ do!) so that they are working in the same area one day, then another area the next... Anyone who charges £8/hr self employed cannot be making even the minimum wage. What do they do with their waste? It is now an offence to employ someone without a waste transfer licence, and I doubt anyone charging £8/hr will have a Licence. No licence, then YOU are liable for their waste carrying. No, I'm not joking. If they are stopped by the Police/Council, and tell where they have been working, you can be prosecuted. When looked into deeper, I'll guess that they are not declaring all their takings, or meeting statutory regulations, which is the difference between charging £8 and £20/hr. I've set out some of the costs of a business in my previous post, and it is clear that a living cannot be made on less than ~£20/hr. And saying I'm inefficient is just insulting. Alan. -- To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'. |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... The message from "pied piper" contains these words: "Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. why dont the lazy sods do it theirself? I get it now. You are a troll! Well, that's easily dealt with... -- Well if thats what u think rather than admit to being wrong |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
In article ,
says... The message from "PK" contains these words: "Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... I own a roofing company, and I pay my roofers £15 an hour, and I have no trouble whatsoever getting good workmen for that rate! but how much do you charge your clients for labour, overheads and profit? What makes that any of your business? Whats wrong with everyone? I can not think of any businesses that do not charge more than they pay their people. I would think £15 per hour extremely good rate for an employed gardener, whether its enough to charge the customer is another matter, but as has been pointed out several times already the sort of work required probebly does not require years of experience and training and since no full time professional gardener is likely to be interested in an hour a week or fortnight I can not quite see why people are getting so hot under the collar about it -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"pied piper" wrote in message ... "Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. why dont the lazy sods do it theirself? I believe in the saying what goes around comes around and I hope it hurts when it reaches you, whatever it is . |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
On 4/1/08 10:15, in article , "Kate
Morgan" wrote: "pied piper" wrote in message ... "Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. why dont the lazy sods do it theirself? I believe in the saying what goes around comes around and I hope it hurts when it reaches you, whatever it is . I think this is a troll, Kate. If not, someone who expresses themselves so badly and so rudely isn't heading for a howling success at any time. ;-( -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Anne Jackson" wrote in message
... The message from "PK" contains these words: "Anne Jackson" wrote in message ... I own a roofing company, and I pay my roofers £15 an hour, and I have no trouble whatsoever getting good workmen for that rate! but how much do you charge your clients for labour, overheads and profit? What makes that any of your business? Because you said: "There's no need to be nasty to Kate, she is quite right to question the fact that someone is charging £25 an hour! I own a roofing company, and I pay my roofers £15 an hour, and I have no trouble whatsoever getting good workmen for that rate!" the self employed gardener has overheads and direct costs to cover, plus holiday time etc. Comparing what you pay your workers in not the correct number to compare to the charge to the gardener's customer. Do I guess you charge significantly more than the £15 you pay your guys? pk |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
"Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... "pied piper" wrote in message ... "Kate Morgan" wrote in message ... My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. why dont the lazy sods do it theirself? I believe in the saying what goes around comes around and I hope it hurts when it reaches you, whatever it is . yes does that mean I will have to cut my own garden gee now thats a toughie |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
....
My daughter and son in law need a gardener just to keep their garden tidy, you know the sort of thing cutting the lawn and the odd bit of pruning, nothing heavy. They have approached several people and the charges are £25 per hour but the gardeners wont do less than 2 hours work. The family are in Edinburgh, any comments, surely that a bit expensive. why dont the lazy sods do it theirself? I believe in the saying what goes around comes around and I hope it hurts when it reaches you, whatever it is . I think this is a troll, Kate. If not, someone who expresses themselves so badly and so rudely isn't heading for a howling success at any time. ;-( -- Sacha I think that you are right Sacha, I am not going to waste any more time on the person who ever he/she is. kate |
charges for gardeners, again, it keeps coming around :-)
In article , Kate Morgan
writes Maybe my family don't want a gardener at all, maybe what they want someone who is retired and just needs a gentle job with a few pounds in cash and bacon butties at the end of a bit of work. Why not contact the local gardening Club, there are often one or two gardeners that are willing to help out on the odd days. -- Janet Tweedy Amersham Gardening Association http://www.amersham-gardening.net |
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