How much should you pay a gardener?

we were recently quoted about £35 to £40 per hour here in London for garden work.It is a lot to pay at the moment. I think if custom does dry up because of the cost of living, this price may reduce.

We had a large overhanging branch removed from our neighbours tree...it cost £200 and took 35min to do it...

It cost me £1,00 to have a large, diseased beech taken down in my garden. It was a major undertaking so I employed a tree surgeon whose fees included getting reluctant permission from the council to remove it. The tree had a TPO on it.

My late husband and I had been trying for several years to get permission. The council arborealist admitted that the fungus damaging it would, without warning, cause it to fall. Any damage sustained would be down to us as the owners!

I pay my current gardener £22 an hour, pretty standard in my area.

BigBertha1 - that made me smile - must the best plan, unfortunately the one I used to sleep died several years ago - very inconsiderate of him! Thank you all for your words of wisdom. I have found one who wants £15 per hour which seems to be quite reasonable.

BigBertha1

I sleep with my gardener that seems to satisfy him.

Would you like to try your luck with a tree surgeon for me? Please?

Obviously if it's in an awkward spot where there are buildings/other gardens close by and not great access it's more difficult I was told two whole days to take ours out. If you have 2 days and 2 or 3 people that's got to be 150 + in labour per person per day so 2 days is 600+ for 2 people and 900 for 3
There will be VAT on it too most likely as even relatively small business are likely to be registered if they do this kind of job fairly often.

I don't think it's surprising that it's 1000 plus.

Thanks M0nica will get some quotes. I was honestly expecting a massive charge as the tree is higher than the house and quite wide. I can't even imagine a tree three times that size. Next to our fir is a huge beech tree but it's in next door's garden. You can just see it in the photo but not in full leaf! They are both much too close to the house which worries me.

Chestnut I have been looking for a picture, but cannot find it. But our tree was roughly three times the size of yours. It was an ENORMOUS hazel. Oor tree surgeon had never seen such a big one. It had six intertwined trunks and was double the width of yours all round. It spanned about 30 feet wide. It had to be removed as all the trunks had started rotting. I am regrowing it from the boll.

We had a yew tree much the size of yours, or only slightly bigger removed about 10 years ago, that was well under £1,000. However in each case we have not had the roots grubbed out - and that does cost money.

Why not get a couple of estimates, then you will know how much it will cost, even if you do not go ahead with the job.

M0nica

Chestnut Even in Oxfordshire we would not expect to pay that much to remove a tree.

We had a large tree removed in our garden in 2019. We used a large reputable firm of local tree surgeons. I think the bill came in around £1,000. The job was completed in a day.

I'm just guessing it would cost thousands, but maybe I'm wrong. However, ours is a very big tree. Was your tree that big?

Surprisingly gardeners here in the Highlands are expensive. They can pick and choose. I have just parted company with mine for two reasons. He charges £30 an hour and quoted £250 for some extra work which only took 4 hours. I know I agreed the price but felt a small reduction would have been in order. Then, after saying ‘HE wouldn’t let me down ‘ he didn’t turn up last week. I told him that I can cope with the grass not being cut but was upset with the lack of communication, I waited in three days - not happy with a stranger in the garden and the dogs getting upset in the house. So I am back to cutting it myself again.

I don't have a gardener - yet. But if it does become necessary I would expect to pay upwards of £20 if they brought their own equipment and cleaned up properly.

All too often, when people employ these services they fail to comprehend the cost of good tools, transport and personal insurance costs to the service provider.

Looking at it from the other end of the spectrum - I would not put my gardening gloves on for any less.

My mother-in-law pays £20 an hour for her gardener.

Hi, I expected to pay around £1000 but felt that the expertise of a tree surgeon was not required so consulted with a well established gardening services company with experience, manpower and equipment. And insurance. They took it down in sections, everything went through a shredder and they cleaned up. Took around an hour. I asked them to leave stump at ground level as its unseen. Would have cost about the same again for stump removal. So worthwhile asking local gardening firms rather than tree surgeons if the tree is not damaged or diseased.

Chestnut Even in Oxfordshire we would not expect to pay that much to remove a tree.

We had a large tree removed in our garden in 2019. We used a large reputable firm of local tree surgeons. I think the bill came in around £1,000. The job was completed in a day.

Chestnut surely that is far too expensive? I would look around.

Baggytrazzas I have just paid 3 fit and healthy young men £350 to fell a very large cedar tree, including taking away all debris and leaving the place tidy.
Wow, how did you find these fit and healthy young men? We have a large fir tree that should really be cut down but I'm expecting tree surgeons to charge at least a couple of thousand.

We pay £22 an hour for our gardener but he's more of a hacker than a true gardener. Just cuts the grass and hacks things back, sometimes too much. We are going to look for another one. Not had much luck with them to be honest. The last one was totally unreliable.

BigBertha1

I sleep with my gardener that seems to satisfy him.

BigBertha1 - and I'm assuming that your gardener sleeps also with the person who probably does most of the other housework including washing his underpants and ironing his shirts??

However, I do like the tariff suggested by Sago.

I have just paid 3 fit and healthy young men £350 to fell a very large cedar tree, including taking away all debris and leaving the place tidy. I could have bartered I suppose but I think they probably took one look at me and decided taking the money was their very best bet!

£15 p hour

BigBertha1 Could you please clarify? I need to know how many hours gardening for a “sleep”. Is it just a normal sleep or can you do some special tricks?
If you needed a small tree felling or a trench dug what would be expected?
Are the lights on or off?
I’m asking for a friend.

I pay £14 an hour, she brings her own equipment and works like a galley slave.

I sleep with my gardener that seems to satisfy him.

It depends where you live. Some areas are much more expensive than others. Around Oxford, it could be £40 or higher.

Mine cuts the grass only and he has recently upped the hourly rate from £15 to £20 because of the rise in petrol prices. He comes every 2 weeks but spends around 20 minutes here. It is London and they are like gold dust. This fellow has been coming here for many years.

£28 per hour