Forum

Replies

• PRO

  Nick @ NM Garden Services Ltd March 23, 2010 at 3:08pm

  What is wrong with weeding?, it seems like easy money to me.
  
  It is seemingly not a popular job so you can quote high and it costs you little money to carry out as you will most likely use a garden fork and nothing else??!
• 

  alan mcmillan March 23, 2010 at 4:49pm

  Not happened to me..YET.. but can imagine it would be a bit embarassing..but would probably take the money..depends on what your situation is.
• 

  GORDON March 23, 2010 at 8:06pm

  Absolutely no chance. Did it when I started but the fact is you are doing a back breaking boring job for probably 25% plus per hour less than the guy cutting the grass.
  
  I will do some weeding and tidying up especially if there are hedges to trim later, but only on the provision that I am cutting the lawns. The grass and hedge cut is a fixed price, weeding at an hourly rate. Maximum 1 hour per visit.
  
  Good job we have different likes and dislikes. But most of all " I like" to do the most lucrative work and in my experience that isn't weeding. Plus I would feel like the poor relation if someone else was mowing the lawns.
• PRO

  Paul @ Ashgate Garden Care March 23, 2010 at 8:17pm

  Weeding - not a problem, I prefer it to mowing. I view mowing as being exciting as doing the hoovering at home which is why I do a lot more weeding than mowing.
  
  Plus every man and his Mountfield round here is after the mowing business, but not many will tackle the weeding, which means I can charge a decent rate with and have less competition.
• 

  Andy Thorne March 23, 2010 at 11:12pm

  I don't agree.
  If you agree to do a job for X and someone else agrees to do the same or a different job for Y, then the problem is not the customers or the highest paid. I say that once a rate/price is agreed that's it - be happy with it or you're a moaning inward looking git.
  
  A few years ago I worked a garden doing the lawns, 4hrs/week. Another gardener looked after all the borders, 2days/week. Neither of us know, or were bothered how much the other was charging. We were happy with our rates.
  After doing the job for a couple of years (and having a great working relationship and respect for one another) we did talk about our charges. Of course one was higher than the other, but that is, of course to be expected! We subsequently talked about our businesses and charges and helped each other out a bit.
  
  Be careful that the green eyed monster doesn't steal your enjoyment and contentment with your job/life!
  
  
  Adrian Hackett said:

  Worked in one garden a few years ago and the 'old' gardener cherry-picked all the best and easy jobs - mowing, rose pruning, planting etc. To be fair, it was a big garden which needed at least 2 gardeners. But I seemed to doing the work of 1.5 gardeners, and it wasn't working out, especially when I found out he was being paid 1.5 times what I was getting! Left after a few weeks.
  
  To work on this sort of basis both gardeners need to be on equal terms.
• 

  Lawncare-4u.co.uk March 24, 2010 at 12:03am

  charge what you are happy to do the job , and at a decent standard..............
  
  higher if ur not bothered.
  less if u need work
  
  more if its hard/graft/experienced. dont do it if u dont like it or have tools for hedging etc.
  
  i only do good regulars or one off's (if requested , at a price !)
  
  generally in not interested - its £20 an hr /same , but i know what a weed is and ill work hard .
  only do the odd hr/hrs though usually ............ u get what u pay for . :-)
• 

  Claire Brown March 24, 2010 at 8:45am

  interesting thoughts, - I don't do lawn mowing, but spend a lot of my time weeding, - it is a skilled job, knowing which are plants and which are weeds, and how to get the weeds out without leaving roots behind that will mean you have to come back in a few weeks, personally I think you have to get down on your hands and knees to do a complete weeding job of a border, - so I do charge a lot higher than the guy doing the lawn.
• 

  Anthony Toop March 24, 2010 at 9:09am

  As long as its only for a couple of hours at a time, then i don't mind weeding, unless its raining and running down the back of your neck!
  
  It takes care and patience and skill/knowledge, especially in a well stocked border, but, charge accordingly, have some tunes playing in your ear and the time can fly by.
  
  I find the main problem is not the tedious nature of the work, but the aching knees and/or back when trying to do to much at one go.
• 

  Kirsty Blair March 24, 2010 at 4:01pm

  I've come across it a few times but it doesn't annoy me. Most of the time the guy cutting the grass wouldn't be let loose on the plants as he A) too decrepit to actually bend down or B) not competant enough to spot the weeds!
  
  So personally I'd not take it quite so hard and see it as a job - unless you don't need the work. Quote accordingly and if you get it you get it.
• 

  choughman March 24, 2010 at 5:33pm

  well, i've quoted as a one off job and got it. was amazed when she told me how much the gardener doing grass charged. I charge almost double to mow grass. How anyone can make a living charging a tenner to mow two average lawns i dont know. he isn't a newbie either.
  My main point is that i can mow and strim a lawn in less than half an hour ( team of 2). I could never charge accordingly for weeding.