paying a teenager for watering

Cheeseplantmad

I think £5 for half hours watering plants is fair , it’s not a difficult job is it , my grown up gardener only charges £12 hour and he does considerably more than that . But , I’d prefer to look into buying some “ self watering “ kits for when away on holidays , there are many ideas online for self - watering plants , that way you can be totally independent .

I'd look for a self-watering system too.

Our neighbours water our plants when we're away and we'd do the same for them.
We buy them a present and they do the same.

Callistemon21

Cheeseplantmad

I think £5 for half hours watering plants is fair , it’s not a difficult job is it , my grown up gardener only charges £12 hour and he does considerably more than that . But , I’d prefer to look into buying some “ self watering “ kits for when away on holidays , there are many ideas online for self - watering plants , that way you can be totally independent .

I'd look for a self-watering system too.

Our neighbours water our plants when we're away and we'd do the same for them.
We buy them a present and they do the same.

I also think that £5 would be sufficient. If I go away my neighbour waters my plants and I give her a present. But if you did install a self watering system you could use it all year..

Hetty58

I think £10 per visit is right as well. You can't compare it with wages per hour - as he has to make the trip and you need to make it worthwhile.

Lovely you found a young chap to walk over and water.

Rewards/incentive for working are good

Cheeseplantmad

I think £5 for half hours watering plants is fair , it’s not a difficult job is it , my grown up gardener only charges £12 hour and he does considerably more than that . But , I’d prefer to look into buying some “ self watering “ kits for when away on holidays , there are many ideas online for self - watering plants , that way you can be totally independent .

Gosh, you're lucky to find someone to do gardening for £12 per hour. Mine charged £18. He wasn't all that good either. Had to let him go as he did more harm than good.

Aldom

Cheeseplantmad

I think £5 for half hours watering plants is fair , it’s not a difficult job is it , my grown up gardener only charges £12 hour and he does considerably more than that . But , I’d prefer to look into buying some “ self watering “ kits for when away on holidays , there are many ideas online for self - watering plants , that way you can be totally independent .

Gosh, you're lucky to find someone to do gardening for £12 per hour. Mine charged £18. He wasn't all that good either. Had to let him go as he did more harm than good.

Indeed.

We pay £24/hour + tip this season. Mowing what we can't get to and some trimmings. Hauled and spread 400 big bags of bark.

I pay my gardener £20 per monthly session and he stays about 1 1/2 hours for mowing, strimming and general tidying up and cleaning up leaves and litter. There are 3 bits of lawn and a path along the back with borders. He does a special session once a year to prune and shape the bushes and the leylandii

Norah

Aldom

Cheeseplantmad

I think £5 for half hours watering plants is fair , it’s not a difficult job is it , my grown up gardener only charges £12 hour and he does considerably more than that . But , I’d prefer to look into buying some “ self watering “ kits for when away on holidays , there are many ideas online for self - watering plants , that way you can be totally independent .

Gosh, you're lucky to find someone to do gardening for £12 per hour. Mine charged £18. He wasn't all that good either. Had to let him go as he did more harm than good.

Indeed.

We pay £24/hour + tip this season. Mowing what we can't get to and some trimmings. Hauled and spread 400 big bags of bark.

He's not a gardener. He's not cutting lawns. He's not a working man.

He's a teenager wanting to earn some extra pocket money doing a neighbour's watering.
It's not exploitation if he's not paid a living wage and as long as both sides are happy with the arrangement.

We pay £35 to have our lawns cut. Probably less than two hours' work but he's worth every penny.

I think Mollygo's idea of a bonus for happy plants is good.
If you said £5 a time and an extra bonus if they all look happy I think most teens would be happy.

I’d pay £5 a time, and if everything looking fine and dandy when I arrived home, I’d give him an extra £5

If he is under 18 you should discuss this with his parents, telling them either that you will be paying him the minimum wage for two hours work, or a little more if you feel that is better.

I would never employ a minor without making sure the parents approved - far to risky these days

The reason the mimium age is lower for a 14 year old is lower than an adult wage is that they are still being supported partially by their parents, so there is no reason I can see for feeling you have to offer more.

Aldom Gosh, you're lucky to find someone to do gardening for £12 per hour. Mine charged £18. He wasn't all that good either. Had to let him go as he did more harm than good.

Costs to gardeners seem to be higher this season. But well worth it when the gardener does the heavy bark work.

indoor plus outdoor pots. £10 per visit.

My neighbours garden plus outdoor pots plus greenhouse needed watering over 3 weeks, they asked me and being home I could hardly refuse. I felt miffed tbh, it was enough for me to keep on top of my own garden during summer drought. If they had offered me £10 a visit, I would have done it cheerfully, I pnly spent half an hour at a time but it was one heck of a tie. As it was a few cucumbers was not enough for the time I spent, as well as being tied to that job

£10 for a half-hour visit is fairer than £5 in my opinion. If the boy does the job as good as an adult why pay him less? The onus is then on you to ensure that he knows exactly what to do and how to operate the hose pipe (not to be assumed). £5 won't make that much difference to you but it will to him, and if you're seen as a fair employer, he'll want to come back the next time you need him. I pay my grandchildren £10 an hour for gardening.

I pay £5 a visit for girl to do mine once a day and lives 2 minutes away I feel £10 is excessive for age and job entailed.

I agree with Cheeseplantmad
Get an automatic watering system. It's a bit awkward to set up, but works fine.

Personally, would go for as much as you can afford and be as generous as I could be. Teenagers get such a negative press. I think it is fabulous that, this young man is trying to earn money at 14 . I did that and it taught me a lot about responsibility.
I have just been looking after someone’s pets and garden for two weeks (ok a bit more than he will be required to do) it takes commitment and time out of your day. I would encourage and reward him for hard work.
Have a lovely holiday.

£10 an hour is quite enough! He should be absolutely delighted, my grandchild would love that! In your position I would let him know just how many hours you are prepared to pay him for . That way he and you both know where you stand. Hope he goes a good job for you!

£10 for a half-hour visit

🤔 it's watering plants, not gardening.
He's 14.
£20 an hour is more than many adults earn, in far more stressful and skilled jobs

It might rain every day.
🌧

Just a thought.

Callistemon21

^£10 for a half-hour visit^

🤔 it's watering plants, not gardening.
He's 14.
£20 an hour is more than many adults earn, in far more stressful and skilled jobs

Comparing to others doesn't make the answer incorrect.

We pay children to do all sort of tasks. Builds work ethic.

Joseann

I would say £10 a visit.

This is what I'd offer. It's got to be worth his while. It's not about how long it takes, it's the inconvenience of attending/journey time as well.

You don’t get paid to travel to work you only get paid when you get there. Minimum wage is only £5.28 for under 18s by law per hour. I’d give him £5.00 per visit after all it’s not through the books it’s cash in hand

I don't understand why you need anybody to do this. You're only away for a couple of weeks and your pots / plants are outside. Drench the garden before you go. Should be fine and you can also pray for rain! 🥴

I would ask him if he could do every other day perhaps, and give him seventy pounds.

I don’t go on holiday often but last time I did I got the kids big paddling pool out filled it maybe four or five inches deep, and put it in the shade, with help I got my pots into it, swooshed some liquid plant feed around in it, I put all pots close together. They all looked in great condition when I got back after a week or so.

Time before that I did ask a neighbour and she actually thought you just had to stand there with the hose pipe on a fine spray aimed at the leaves and flowers (as opposed to the soil).
This caused more problems than enough, so the paddling pool was much better for me.

If he's a decent lad and your plants look healthy on your return, think you should be generous - between £7-£10 a visit is what I'd suggest. Presume he won't be doing it every day. If you are generous you will hope you can rely on him to do the same on future occasions.