Anyone know a good gardener?

fioc

Anyone know a good gardener available for bit of a garden tidy up ..My Dad hurt his back, and needs a bit of help..Ideally someone who knows flowers from weeds...He lives in Killester..How much is hourly rate roughly?

rje66

fioc wrote: »

Anyone know a good gardener available for bit of a garden tidy up ..My Dad hurt his back, and needs a bit of help..Ideally someone who knows flowers from weeds...He lives in Killester..How much is hourly rate roughly?

Pm sent

monkeynuz

hourly rate could run anything between €15-30 per hour depending on how goo the gardener is and added extras or whether all fees are included, some gardeners charge for mileage and using their own mower.

Also check they are insured.

A lot of gardeners will want to do fixed price jobs so their effective hourly rate soars.

Sonnenblumen

For the basic gardening work which you require, anything over € 17.00/hr would be extortionate.

monkeynuz

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

For the basic gardening work which you require, anything over € 17.00/hr would be extortionate.

You say basic garden work, any work is basic if you know what you are doing.

The point I am making is that, yes, you can get gardeners cheaper (although I use the term gardener very loosely) but they may not have the knowledge or speed of someone who is professional.

Also you are expecting someone who is a professional to be paid a very meagre wage indeed, also insurance and the like are expensive.

Unfortunately gardening is one of those trades that are still seen as something done either by retired men or people who didn't do well at school which in both cases are very unlikely.

Sonnenblumen

monkeynuz wrote: »

You say basic garden work, any work is basic if you know what you are doing.

The point I am making is that, yes, you can get gardeners cheaper (although I use the term gardener very loosely) but they may not have the knowledge or speed of someone who is professional.

Also you are expecting someone who is a professional to be paid a very meagre wage indeed, also insurance and the like are expensive.

Unfortunately gardening is one of those trades that are still seen as something done either by retired men or people who didn't do well at school which in both cases are very unlikely.

Well it seems the OP is looking for someone to do some basic or routine gardening work and be able to distinguish a weed from a flower. Weeding is not a difficult task.

I also disagree with your assessment of what is meagre pay, insurance is not prohibitively expensive and the business at the lower end is plagued by chancers trying to earn a living.

monkeynuz

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Well it seems the OP is looking for someone to do some basic or routine gardening work and be able to distinguish a weed from a flower. Weeding is not a difficult task.

I also disagree with your assessment of what is meagre pay, insurance is not prohibitively expensive and the business at the lower end is plagued by chancers trying to earn a living.

Weeding is not a difficult task for me and perhaps not you, but the op did ask for someone who can distinguish a weed from a flower and I would correct you on this that plenty of people don't know about weeding or many other things to do with gardening, that is why they pay gardeners!

Public liability insurance and personal accident insurance costs in the region of €1k per year added to all the other expenses it all mounts up.

So if business at the lower end is full of changers how can the op be expected to get a good job done?

Sonnenblumen

monkeynuz wrote: »

Weeding is not a difficult task for me and perhaps not you, but the op did ask for someone who can distinguish a weed from a flower and I would correct you on this that plenty of people don't know about weeding or many other things to do with gardening, that is why they pay gardeners!

Public liability insurance and personal accident insurance costs in the region of €1k per year added to all the other expenses it all mounts up.

So if business at the lower end is full of changers how can the op be expected to get a good job done?

There are plenty of self employed competent gardeners for doing routine gardening work including weeding etc available, working for € 20/hr or less so why should the OP pay more?

I always get suspicious whenever the costs of Public Liability insurance is used to justify inflated prices/charges. Of course it must be factored in along with many other overheads, but taking your very low premium cost of € 1k, this is equivalent to about €0.50/hr (based on 200 X 8hrs working days p.a.). Enough said.

OP - it may be worth looking at listings here: www.alci.ie

monkeynuz

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

There are plenty of self employed competent gardeners for doing routine gardening work including weeding etc available, working for € 20/hr or less so why should the OP pay more?

I always get suspicious whenever the costs of Public Liability insurance is used to justify inflated prices/charges. Of course it must be factored in along with many other overheads, but taking your very low premium cost of € 1k, this is equivalent to about €0.50/hr (based on 200 X 8hrs working days p.a.). Enough said.

OP - it may be worth looking at listings here: www.alci.ie

Not really enough said, the pl insurance is only one element of the charge out rate that any tradesman needs to calculate before coming to an hourly/daily rate you have pl/vehicle/personal accident insurance/fuel/vehicle/equipment etc. All to be divided by so many working hours, for some this could all add up to at least 10+ per hour then you need to add a wage on top.

Sonnenblumen

monkeynuz wrote: »

Not really enough said, the pl insurance is only one element of the charge out rate that any tradesman needs to calculate before coming to an hourly/daily rate you have pl/vehicle/personal accident insurance/fuel/vehicle/equipment etc. All to be divided by so many working hours, for some this could all add up to at least 10+ per hour then you need to add a wage on top.

you forgot to include 'dealing with spoofing time wasters' on your list. Now why not go off and do something useful, like actually providing some useful response to a post.:(

monkeynuz

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

you forgot to include 'dealing with spoofing time wasters' on your list. Now why not go off and do something useful, like actually providing some useful response to a post.:(

I think it's hilarious the way you get offensive when people don't agree with you.

Perhaps you should accept that sometimes you aren't always right.

I was advising the op on potential costs and pitfalls to avoid.

Lol!

DK man

A friend who was a builder and former skills Olympic brick layer is now doing gardening work for €10 / hr! He says that he is happy to earn €80 / day.

I said that it is too cheap and he said that he tried pricing some jobs more but didn't get them... A friend of his has a horticultural degree and he is very happy when he can get €100 for his day..

Now I live in Louth I know Dublin prices are different but I'd imagine u shud get someone half decent for around €15 / hr.

Some will charge for the job and will probably turn up with a few men and be very busy - the guy on the hourly rate will be more steady pace

I used to do a bit myself but got fed up chasing money especially from people who lived in very big houses

monkeynuz

DK man wrote: »

A friend who was a builder and former skills Olympic brick layer is now doing gardening work for €10 / hr! He says that he is happy to earn €80 / day.

I said that it is too cheap and he said that he tried pricing some jobs more but didn't get them... A friend of his has a horticultural degree and he is very happy when he can get €100 for his day..

Now I live in Louth I know Dublin prices are different but I'd imagine u shud get someone half decent for around €15 / hr.

Some will charge for the job and will probably turn up with a few men and be very busy - the guy on the hourly rate will be more steady pace

I used to do a bit myself but got fed up chasing money especially from people who lived in very big houses

If you can get someone good for €100 per day then great go for it, but I would say buyer beware that's all. I don't know of anyone charging that low and making any money from it.