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

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.

On 1/1/08 18:24, in article , "Anne
Jackson" 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
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.'

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?

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

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

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.

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.'

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

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.'

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

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.

"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.

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

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