Do You Employ a Residential Gardener?

[BristolCavendish]

Originally Posted by bdex75

Paid for my Deere in less than 2 years at that rate. Assuming the high school aged son doesn't crash it into a tree.

At least you have a son who's willing to help out with gardening chores. I haven't seen an adolescent pushing (or operating) a lawnmower in our neighborhood for at least 25+ years and counting. I guess traditional allowances and their related responsibilities have now been replaced by mandatory stipends and presumed monetary expectations.

Originally Posted by bdex75

I just bought the above mentioned edger because it needed a tune up and a blade. Changed the oil and gas, spark plug and blade for $30 and 30 minutes of my time. Runs like new and cuts like a champ. Guys wife sold $300 edger on a Facebook garage sale site for $40 because they didn't want to pay to get the service done ($150).

Those traditional blade-style edgers are the best! I haven't seen any gardeners around here using them for years. I remember the 4-stroke Briggs and Stratton engines and the 'edgy sound' they would make when the blade inadvertently came in contact with the concrete sidewalk. It's a far more professional approach than the commonly-used edger on a stick.

[triethylborane]

Originally Posted by bdex75

I do not. As a matter of fact I was out edging all of the sidewalks and drive last night. With a proper gas powered edger. Not a weed wacker like I see the grass cutter guys doing.

In HI, some will use a weed whacker to mow their lawn. Why? I don't know.

[bdex75]

[QUOTE=BristolCavendish;7634118][QUOTE=bdex75;7634061] Paid for my Deere in less than 2 years at that rate. Assuming the high school aged son doesn't crash it into a tree.

At least you have a son who's willing to help out with certain gardening chores. I haven't seen an adolescent pushing (or operating) a lawnmower in our neighborhood for at least 25+ years and counting.

Those traditional blade-style edgers are the best! I haven't seen any gardeners around here using them for decades. I recall the 'edgy sound' they used to make when the blade inadvertently came in contact with the concrete sidewalk. It's a far more professional approach than the edgers on a stick.

It was about dusk last night and I was shooting sparks all over!!! Blades are $9. Sparks are fun!'n


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bdex75]

Originally Posted by triethylborane

In HI, some will use a weed whacker to mow their lawn. Why? I don't know.

Saw that a bit while on vacation in Laguna Beach. I guess if you have a small enough yard and like an inconsistent cut! They don't do worth a darn on a sidewalk edge either. Just fast.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[THC]

Aaahhh condo living is awesome.. no lawns and the like

[ejvette]

My brother in law does my yard maintenance and I do his tax work ...love the barter system

[Rootbeer]

Have a gardener for the lawn and some of the big jobs and di some ourselves

[returntorolex]

Originally Posted by Runnin' Rebel

Wait. You don't do your own laundry? My hero !

I've given up trimming my palm trees now as they are way to tall and those guys climb them like monkeys and are finished doing all in less then in hour and haul away everything. 3 times a year they get cut.

I do my own pool maintaince and chemicals because I enjoy the backyard and no one cleans it as good as me.

When my boys get old enough, I'll hire them lol for outside chores. As for the clothing, my wife pulls out her unmentionables and does those herself.

[fmc000]

I employ this guy:



It saves me a few hours every weekend and it gets the job done.

[lig]

Yes. I did it for years. Am gladly paying to have it taken care of now.

[nick h]

in the UK its getting increasingly difficult to get a half decent gardener and now they want £25/hour in the north of the country not London and the south east

there are plenty with unmarked vans from the gypsy/traveller community but they are incompetent and thieves

really £25/hour to mow a lawn and leave the cuttings in your waste bin?

and many are cash only so not paying tax/national insurance etc

also they have a pricing structure depending on the part of the village you live in and the car on the drive - i now park the Range Rover on a neighbours drive when seeking a price from any trades people

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by nick h

in the UK its getting increasingly difficult to get a half decent gardener and now they want £25/hour in the north of the country not London and the south east

there are plenty with unmarked vans from the gypsy/traveller community but they are incompetent and thieves

really £25/hour to mow a lawn and leave the cuttings in your waste bin?

and many are cash only so not paying tax/national insurance etc

also they have a pricing structure depending on the part of the village you live in and the car on the drive - i now park the Range Rover on a neighbours drive when seeking a price from any trades people

That's cheap. I would gladly pay $32 an hour for someone to mow the yard. The lowest quote from a yard service here would work out to over $100 an hour.

[mjclark32]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

That's cheap. I would gladly pay $32 an hour for someone to mow the yard. The lowest quote from a yard service here would work out to over $100 an hour.

Yeah no kidding.
My guy would be here for 15 or so minutes flying around on his ride on (little over half an acre). Quick edge and blow. Probably took him longer to put the invoice together...

[SDRider]

Originally Posted by walds11

My lawn landscaping company cuts my lawn weeky and trims hedges/shrubs every other month during the season. They also do spring and fall clean-ups. Money well spent and time for me to do other things

Same here. I haven't cut my lawn in years. I gave my lawn mower away last year after a year or so of it sitting unused in our garage.

The only thing our guy doesn't do is trim our palm trees. We have to hire someone else to do that.

[TK-710]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

no.



(just answered the title due to being a BriCav thread )

Lmao. I thought we were going to be reading about more lemon and camellia flower larcenies.

[Muzz]

My house in Canada I did it myself because I find it relaxing.

Over here I have a Gardner but the service is included in my lease agreement.

So if I own, I do it myself.

[mtrunner]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

My wife employs me.

Sounds like my household. I do all outdoor chores myself.

[nick h]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

That's cheap. I would gladly pay $32 an hour for someone to mow the yard. The lowest quote from a yard service here would work out to over $100 an hour.

i guess your hourly rates in the USA are far higher than the UK?

in the UK the minimum living wage is £7.50/hour - which makes a gardener at £25/hour very expensive especially outside of London and the South East

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by nick h

i guess your hourly rates in the USA are far higher than the UK?

in the UK the minimum living wage is £7.50/hour - which makes a gardener at £25/hour very expensive especially outside of London and the South East

Our minimums are about the same.

The landscaping service quotes ranged from $200 to $400 a month to mow the grass. They would mow once per week. Total time on my property estimated at less than 30 minutes. That's $100 to $200 an hour to mow the grass.

FWIW, I would pay a proper, educated gardener $100 an hour, provided he applied horticultural sciences and managed all the trees and shrubs as well. But there's no way I'll pay common labor that kind of money for a job I can do equally well.

[Watch This]

I will ponder this most interesting query and then reply in an articulate and artfully crafted manner which will demonstrate for all my intellectual prowess and mastery of the English language.

Nah.... "F" it. I'm gonna start blocking this dribble. Insufferable.

[christianj]

We have a service that maintains our property. They provide basic lawn cutting on a regular basis and if we want more done like pruning or mulching then we ask and they give us a price. Reality is that for most of the companies today it is a basic service they provide and that is really what most customers want and most importantly what most customers are willing to pay for. If you want someone that does more than cut your grass and could plan your landscaping and actually treat your landscaping like a true gardener...they are out there but you are going to pay for it (and most are not willing to do that).

[KDS777]

My dad used up make me cut the grass for my allowance.

Today I write a cheque for condo fees. Our landscaping compamy does a great job too.

[KDS777]

Dupe post

[TK-710]

Originally Posted by nick h

in the UK its getting increasingly difficult to get a half decent gardener and now they want £25/hour in the north of the country not London and the south east

there are plenty with unmarked vans from the gypsy/traveller community but they are incompetent and thieves

really £25/hour to mow a lawn and leave the cuttings in your waste bin?

and many are cash only so not paying tax/national insurance etc

also they have a pricing structure depending on the part of the village you live in and the car on the drive - i now park the Range Rover on a neighbours drive when seeking a price from any trades people

Well unless you're going to provide the machine and gas that's not really that high of a price. I cut my own lawn with a ridding lawn mower that cost around $2800 and costs about $6.00 in gas each time (2gallons) then I use a $100 weed eater. Since I don't have to transport the equipment there's no charge there. But if I charged my self $25 an hour I'd owe myself $12.50 at the end of that half hour. I'm down to $6.50 after the gas. So really I'm saving myself $6.50 cutting myself but since my hourly rate at work is considerably more than that, the half hour I spent doing it myself plus the money out in equipment and maintenance I'm losing money not paying someone $25 an hour. That's actually a really reasonable price. Even when you convert the 25 pounds to $31 USD I'd still take that deal.

That's kind of the deal with the trades. You either do it yourself or if you're not willing or able you pay someone else and they are not going to do the work that others aren't willing or able to do themselves for free or cheap.

[Dan Pierce]

Our HOA employs a landscaper and he's the best. He also provides other building/ construction services to me and many of my neighbors.
dP

[Bob the brush]

Whilst I can cut the lawn, tend the borders and water the tomatoes and hanging baskets I'll carry on, but I draw the line at housework, get somebody in to do that, I have for the last few years, it's GREAT, she does a great job. Also, on the same theme, don't wash your car, there are teams out there who do it willingly, quickly and better than you ever will. Inside and out, wax and polish £10, what's not to like!

[Rockrolex]

We used to have a person who mowed our lawn (once the kids went off to college) and a separate lawn maintenance service which took care of aerating the lawn, trimming the trees and bushes, etc. We gave all that up when we moved into an apartment. Now the rental company handles all that for the building, including shoveling snow. And I'm loving it.

[DCheeta]

Originally Posted by Runnin' Rebel

Wait. You don't do your own laundry? My hero !

There are people who still do their own laundry? The horror!

[BristolCavendish]

Going back in time (up to about the early 1960s), countless upper-middle class families had regular gardeners and/or domestic housemaids/cooks. The cost of living was far lower in those days and domestic help was not regulated by current employment laws (i.e. income tax withholdings, SSI, state disability and unemployment insurance etc.). Gardening services (as in today) was still a privately contracted or agreed upon arrangement.

It would be great to have a gardener/chauffer, cook, housemaid, butler and maybe even a governess/au pair if one's living situation warranted such necessities. Unfortunately it would be incredibly expensive to fiscally cover all of these household-related expenditures given today's inflation and cost-of-living index.

I would imagine that very few today can afford (or have the option of) employing and maintaining a full-time domestic staff.

[nick h]

Originally Posted by Bob Kendall

Whilst I can cut the lawn, tend the borders and water the tomatoes and hanging baskets I'll carry on, but I draw the line at housework, get somebody in to do that, I have for the last few years, it's GREAT, she does a great job. Also, on the same theme, don't wash your car, there are teams out there who do it willingly, quickly and better than you ever will. Inside and out, wax and polish £10, what's not to like!

i once tried one of these cheap car washes and it cost me £300 to get the car machine polished to get rid of swirls/scratches!

i now have a guy who comes every four weeks and spends five hours on the car doing a mini detail

he supplies all his own tools and uses some very expensive waxes and sealants

i pay £100 and he has one hours travel each way