Hourly rate for gardening work

I know this may have been discussed before recently but i can't find the thread.

I've been looking around for some gardening work and it looks (gulp) as though I might actually get offered some. So now I have to think clearly about what I'm offering and how much I expect to get for it. I'm thinking about £12 per hour would be the going rate (for an untrained but perfectly competent general gardener), but what do others think?

 

£15-£30 is the hourly rate used by many landscapers when they work out their costing for basic gardening services such as mowing/pruning/weeding etc , but bear in mind that they have insurances, pay tax and use expensive equipment and vans, so if you are new to the game, £12/hr is good

never quote per hour if you can help it, as some people will tend to 'time you' .... rather quote per job, but make it very clear what the job entails, and if any extras are required, make it known that you will quote seperately for that

and, always invoice and keep record of your work, give the client a receipt after each job ...

declare your taxes and you can claim your expenses ... if you don't, you will eventually get caught out and it will cost you loads

so, bearing that in mind, if you work out your costing at £12/hr, after tax etc you will clear approx £8-£9/hr (excluding the cost of the mower and whatever other overheads are involved)

the nice thing though is that if you do a decent job, you end up getting referals in the same street/village ... good luck!

 

Put yourself in the customers shoes.

Would you want to pay £12/ hour to have the grass cut, or would you rather pay £50 to have the lawn mowed / trimmed / edged, that ends up taking only 4 hours?

I would say if you give a set rate / hour as *dim* said, folk will "time you"

 

Here is a link to a site where they might be bale to advise on hourly rates...
Discussion Forum - Landscape Juice Network

 

at the end of the day, there will always be people who time you and watch your every move

so, by charging a fixed hourly rate, some people will edge you on to finish the job quicker, and God forbid if you take a 5min smoke /tea break or answer your mobile phone .... they are like 'meercats' .... peeping at you through closed curtains as you work, ... you pretend not to see them, and it makes you feel like an exhibitionist

then, by charging a fixed rate for the job, some people will time how long it takes and work out what it costs per hour (and still complain)

however, I think it's always better that the client knows the total cost of the job before you start

I have several long term clients, and I would say that 15% always try to screw you ... but they are too lazy to do the job themselves so end up hiring you regulary

the other 85% don't really care how long it takes, as long as they know what it will cost at the end of the day, and that the job is done properly ...

I also find that you can charge more on fridays or saturdays .... many people like their gardens to look neat and well kept over weekends as they get relatives and friends visiting, so these days are 'prime days' and they are willing to pay a premium price

there are also the very wealthy/affluent class who have au-pairs/nannies, cleaners, large houses and exotic cars ... these are the best to work for as at least you get offered a cup of tea and biscuits ... and these are normally the clients who brag to their visiting friends that they have (own) a good gardener ... many of these clients are the ones who recommend you to their friends and family

 

My original post was "12 per hour is a good starting point", now I've written an essay. Apologies!

 

Because I enjoy it, I say £20 for 2 hours a week/fortnight to anyone who wants me to do something for them (normally weeding, cutting grass, etc, so time flies)

 

the jobs I enjoy the most are the total landscape jobs that involve decking/walls/pathways, removing most of the plants/shrubs and landscaping to your own ideas including purchasing all the materials yourself ... these are the most rewarding jobs and pay very good money .... there is the odd one who will 'use you' to present a full plan with all the plant/shrub/tree names and then do it themselves ... I have 'wisened up' now and don't supply all the info, but can (and do) present a pretty picture, and show them in person, other gardens that I have landscaped

if you cannot build walls, or do decking etc, pass that work onto a hard landscaper ... he in turn will pass on the soft landscaping, so it's good to team up with a few of these guys

managed letting agencies, industrial estates/offices, pubs etc are good 'bread and butter' jobs and pay well, but to land these jobs, you often need to be good at marketing .... i.e. you need to throw in kickbacks on a regular basis ... these don't necessarily mean cash, but the occasional meal at a good restaurant, or a night out at a local pub with all drinks paid for, does wonders .... or, what also works well is if you maintain the letting agency's personal home garden (weekly mow etc) ... you can also claim this on your expenses/marketing

end of tenancy jobs pay very well, as you can name your price (within reason) ... downside is that the occupier is desperate, contacts a week before they move out, so you have to fit these jobs into your schedule in the last week of the month, and you can only do so much ....

it's good to team up with other gardeners in your area for these jobs ... if you cannot do it yourself, quote on the job, pass it on the other gardener less your markup (money for jam-pays for 1/2 a tank of diesel)

many councils are laying off their full time groundsmen/gardeners and are contracting the work out ... good money, but don't take on too much, as if things go pearshaped, you have very few regular weekly clients to keep things ticking and need to start 'scrounging' for work from scratch ... you also need to buy rough cut mowers etc and often get the junk jobs like mowing verges on motorways, but money is good .... it also pays to be a Mason

team up with a few architects and you will be guaranteed new landscaping work (but the kickbacks work here again)

don't be afraid to knock on doors that have 'for sale' or 'to let signs' ... negotiate a good price if you have spare time and you will very often have a bit of extra work

when you see a home with 2 foot high grass, knock on the door ... negotiate a good price and 8/10 times, you will make a few extra quid if you are not very busy

when starting off, advertise for free on sites such as gumtree etc ... an advert at your local tesco or post office also brings in small jobs

as you get busier, you get better known and the bigger jobs come your way

loads more, and you learn as you go along ... you will never be very rich, but you work for yourself and get by

 

Good point *dim* where you mention about teaming up with other professionals in the field.
When you find the customer with a more relaxed approach to money which tells you:" just let me know how much it adds up to and get it done from start to end" I can assure you that a good part of workers wouldn't know where to start.

A LOT of them WOULD NOT TAKE ON RESPONSIBILITIES, but that is exactly what customers want to pay for, to give you the headackes instead of keeping them for them selves. And also initiative or some input is bound to be welcome.

If you just care about your limited amount of hours, that is like saying to your customer: "as long as my hours are paid, I don't care what happens afterward", and of course it shows incompetence on your part because it is kind of unbelievable not to have any contacts at all in your field.

And you can be sure that the customer will not want to talk to stingy Joe for advice of any sort in the future.

 

Thanks for your replies, everyone. I have decided to quote £15 per hour, and have an arrangement to do some work in a few weeks time - a bit worrying as there's a delay and I'd like to get straight in there; but
the kind of work that needs doing would be best left for a bit, IMO, unless he wants a garden looking like a bare wasteland until next April.

I have a permanent part-time job in another field, but I need a bit extra, and I want some kind of low-stress option which I could continue when I retire in a few years time (around 60ish) as I'll be dirt-poor then until I'm 66.

So I haven't considered paying a self-employed NI contribution, because I'm not self-employed, exactly. But other people have also brought up this point so i need to look into it.

I decided to ask for £15 because after tax, and other overheads, like public liability insurance, it's got to be still worth doing.

 

Don't take this as 100% right but it goes something like:

You will be self employed but just for this job.

The tax man says you owe him £10k in back tax, as he has now found out you have a 2nd job.
Its up to you to prove that you never turned over £10k, let alone owe it in tax.

Its true that it is always the other guy who gets away with out paying tax etc

Some one somewhere, will sooner or later tell the tax man about you.

Its best to get an accountant from day 2, day 1 you get a bank account set up.

When you start to issue invoices / receipts do it that evening, no excuses, a few days turn into a week, next thing you have a big mountain of stuff that will take hours to sort.
Good luck.

 

I advise site Ascentps. They are engaged in: landscaping, decking, lawn mowing, seeding and planting. They work on an hourly basis £60 + VAT. But if they work half a day, it goes £180. By this, I order their services once a week. After their work themselves cleaned and removed trash.

 

Nikkigon, I'd just like to point out the last post on this thread is dated September 2011.