I know I should DIY but I have just had a young lad do some gardening for
me, runs his own business.

He has mowed the back lawn (about 50' x 40') which had grass 12" high, two
lawn areas in front same height grass, hacked the weeds out of the paving stones and put all the cuttings in my garden waste bin. 2.5 hours non
stop. Brought his own mower/strimmer.

He quoted �60 (and �25 per visit for future grass cutting).

I think I would be robbing him if I paid him that, what do people think? Frankly I would have said yes to �150 for what he's done today.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Here we go it's getting close, now it's just who wants it most.

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On 03/06/2025 11:51, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I know I should DIY but I have just had a young lad do some gardening
for me, runs his own business.

He has mowed the back lawn (about 50' x 40') which had grass 12" high,
two lawn areas in front same height grass, hacked the weeds out of the
paving stones and put all the cuttings in my garden waste bin. 2.5 hours
non stop. Brought his own mower/strimmer.

He quoted £60 (and £25 per visit for future grass cutting).

I think I would be robbing him if I paid him that, what do people think? Frankly I would have said yes to £150 for what he's done today.

If I can get my hedge man in he charges £200 a day.

And its well worth it.

That is £25 an hour give or take and that is what your man is charging too.

It is the going rate for moderately unskilled labour these days.

Double the minimum wage.

It equates to around £40,000 gross income a year, which is no bad wage
when all is said and done. More if he works the hours.

OK the man will have expenses, but they are tax deductible. It's enough
for a wife and kid and a mortgage.

And many people ask no more than that.


--
“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established
authorities are wrong.”

― Voltaire, The Age of Louis XIV

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On 03/06/2025 11:51, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I know I should DIY but I have just had a young lad do some gardening
for me, runs his own business.

He has mowed the back lawn (about 50' x 40') which had grass 12" high,
two lawn areas in front same height grass, hacked the weeds out of the
paving stones and put all the cuttings in my garden waste bin. 2.5 hours
non stop. Brought his own mower/strimmer.

He quoted £60 (and £25 per visit for future grass cutting).

I think I would be robbing him if I paid him that, what do people think? Frankly I would have said yes to £150 for what he's done today.

Give him a good tip for the work he has just done.

My Mother has a "gardener" who does it for a retirement job @ £15/hour.
OK for cutting grass and weeding patio but he is no gardener and cannot
be trusted unsupervised with pruning or cutting back overgrown shrubs -
he will just hack them back to nothing or asked to remove some ivy he
will identify everything with a green leaf as ivy :)

One advantage is he will take away anything he does hack back (grass
cuttings go in a compost bin). The other advantage is that he is
reliable and will turn up regularly, unlike some previous gardeners
required for a couple of hours a week to keep a garden and lawn neat and
tidy.


A couple of years back after a fairly lengthy say in hospital her garden
became a bit unruly. A local family company was hired to tidy it up.
3 people, 2 hours (non-stop) for a total of £250 and they did a
fantastic job with cutting grass, weeding, properly pruning, removing a
few shrubs and removing all waste.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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On 03/06/2025 in message <[email protected]> Jeff
Gaines wrote:

I know I should DIY but I have just had a young lad do some gardening for
me, runs his own business.

He has mowed the back lawn (about 50' x 40') which had grass 12" high, two >lawn areas in front same height grass, hacked the weeds out of the paving >stones and put all the cuttings in my garden waste bin. 2.5 hours non
stop. Brought his own mower/strimmer.

He quoted �60 (and �25 per visit for future grass cutting).

I think I would be robbing him if I paid him that, what do people think? >Frankly I would have said yes to �150 for what he's done today.

Many thanks NP & alan_m :-)

I paid �100 and told him the surplus was a tip.

He was the hardest contractor to find following my move here and, so far,
looks to be one of the best.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his
life.
(Jeremy Thorpe, 1962)

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On 3 Jun 2025 10:51:32 GMT, "Jeff Gaines" <[email protected]>
wrote:

I know I should DIY but I have just had a young lad do some gardening for
me, runs his own business.

He has mowed the back lawn (about 50' x 40') which had grass 12" high, two >lawn areas in front same height grass, hacked the weeds out of the paving >stones and put all the cuttings in my garden waste bin. 2.5 hours non
stop. Brought his own mower/strimmer.

He quoted �60 (and �25 per visit for future grass cutting).

I think I would be robbing him if I paid him that, what do people think? >Frankly I would have said yes to �150 for what he's done today.

Before I read your second post in this thread I did some
back-of-the-envelope jottings and came up with the same number you
did. So "spot-on" I'd say.

I take TNP's points and would only add that running a proper business
in a responsible way inevitably comes with overheads and IMO an
inexperienced beginner is more likely to underestimate rather than
overestimate them.

You seem delighted with his work so the bottom line - again IMO - is
would you like him still to be in business in a year's time? Maybe
even tell him (gently) that you would like him to still be working for
you in a year's time and suggest he looks at his costs a tad more
realistically in the meantime.

This scenario worked itself out many years ago when I went to a new,
start-up electronics company to ask them to make batches of a module I
had designed and prototyped. The owner offered me a price that I knew
was far too low and I told him that it would protect my own interests
to see that he charged me enough to ensure he was still in business to
make my next batch and the next. No, he insisted: he would stand by
his price. Reader: I never even received my first batch. He went bust
before he had finished them.

Nick

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On 2025-06-03, Jeff Gaines <[email protected]> wrote:

I know I should DIY but I have just had a young lad do some gardening for
me, runs his own business.

He has mowed the back lawn (about 50' x 40') which had grass 12" high, two lawn areas in front same height grass, hacked the weeds out of the paving stones and put all the cuttings in my garden waste bin. 2.5 hours non
stop. Brought his own mower/strimmer.

He quoted £60 (and £25 per visit for future grass cutting).

I think I would be robbing him if I paid him that, what do people think? Frankly I would have said yes to £150 for what he's done today.

So he offered to do it for 60 pounds, and 25 for ongoing lawn mows. He would not offer a "robbing" price. Take the offer and keep him on.

Do not try and work out how much is business costs. By employing him long
time you will be paying him back big time.

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On 06/06/2025 in message <[email protected]> Gordon wrote:

On 2025-06-03, Jeff Gaines <[email protected]> wrote:

I know I should DIY but I have just had a young lad do some gardening for >>me, runs his own business.

He has mowed the back lawn (about 50' x 40') which had grass 12" high, two >>lawn areas in front same height grass, hacked the weeds out of the paving >>stones and put all the cuttings in my garden waste bin. 2.5 hours non
stop. Brought his own mower/strimmer.

He quoted £60 (and £25 per visit for future grass cutting).

I think I would be robbing him if I paid him that, what do people think? >>Frankly I would have said yes to £150 for what he's done today.

So he offered to do it for 60 pounds, and 25 for ongoing lawn mows. He
would
not offer a "robbing" price. Take the offer and keep him on.

Do not try and work out how much is business costs. By employing him long >time you will be paying him back big time.

To me it is a question of morals and, as pointed out elsewhere in the
thread, I'd like him to be there into the future.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to do or
say nothing. (Edmund Burke)

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