How much does a gardener cost, and is it a worthwhile investment? Caring for a yard is labor-intensive. So, hiring a gardener is a good choice, especially with a hectic schedule and can’t keep up with yard work. Learn more about the cost of hiring a gardener and the services they offer to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.
What Does a Gardener Do?
Gardeners perform various tasks, from removing leaves and mowing lawns to pruning trees and planting flowers. You can hire a gardener to do everything, or hire them just for specific tasks.
Maintenance Tasks: Mowing, Pruning, Weeding
Many daily, weekly, and seasonal maintenance tasks are associated with yard work. A gardener will help you keep up with all of these duties. The following chores have to be done repeatedly throughout the year:
- Watering
- Mowing the lawn
- Trimming hedges
- Pruning trees
- Fertilizing
- Dethatching
- Aerating
- Treating for pests and diseases
- Weeding and applying herbicides
- Mulching flower beds
- Dividing perennials
- Raking leaves
- Maintaining irrigation systems
- Cleaning pathways, driveways, and patios
A gardener’s responsibilities can include everything necessary to keep the plants in your yard healthy and beautiful. Many gardeners also help with outdoor maintenance issues like resealing concrete surfaces and restaining wood fences and decks.
Planting and Landscaping
Not only do gardeners monitor the health of your plants and ensure that your lawn and garden are well maintained, but they also provide landscaping services. They can perform duties like building a pathway, leveling your lawn, and landscaping around your pool.
Furthermore, your gardener can handle everything from flower bed installations and planting annual flowers to planting trees and lawns. A gardener can build trellises, install garden lighting, and design and install sprinkler and drip irrigation systems.
Likewise, gardeners have green thumbs and extensive knowledge about different types of plants. Therefore, they often know the best ground cover to plant in that shady area behind your house. They can develop a long-term plan for your yard and incorporate landscaping elements when the time is right.
Soil Preparation and Fertilization
Soil health is the foundation of a healthy garden, and every gardener understands how to achieve healthy soil to promote a lush green lawn, healthy perennials, and vigorous trees and shrubs.
Gardeners will test your soil, add amendments, and use the right mulch for your plantings and landscape design. They understand the chemistry of soil and fertilizers to provide the right nutrients and balance the pH of your soil.
By regularly monitoring and adjusting your soil makeup, gardeners optimize your garden’s performance so it will grow the most bountiful fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
You can hire a gardener to till your vegetable garden and flower beds and prepare them for planting. They’ll also handle chores like lawn fertilizing and put your yard on a fertilizer schedule. In doing so, you won’t have to worry about it.
Factors Influencing Gardener Costs
Several factors influence the cost of a gardener, and it’s helpful to understand why some gardeners charge more than others. The scope and frequency of service, your garden size and complexity, and the geographic location affect the overall cost of hiring a gardener.
Service Scope and Frequency
Hiring a gardener to help you with a one-time chore, like mulching your flower beds or pruning your shrubs, could cost more per hour than hiring them part-time or as part of a package deal.
Many yards will do well with weekly visits, where your gardener can handle regular maintenance tasks and special projects. You may need to increase the frequency of your gardener’s visits during the spring and fall, which are the busiest gardening times of the year.
Expect to pay a higher service rate for gardeners that can handle all of your gardening needs, including tough jobs like tree and stump removal and land clearing. You’ll also have to pay more for gardeners with special equipment or vehicles to haul garden debris off your property.
Garden Size and Complexity
The size of your yard affects the cost of many projects, including the cost of your gardener. With more space, there is more to take care of, which will require a bigger time commitment from your gardener.
The complexity of your garden also influences the cost of hiring a gardener. Low-maintenance yard designs can save you money because they make caring for them exceptionally easy. Other types of gardens, such as formal or topiary gardens, require a lot more labor or skill to maintain.
Most gardeners charge an hourly rate, which makes it easy to budget an amount to spend on a gardener. However much work they get done will help you stay on track and keep up with chores like getting rid of weeds and mowing, which you can fall behind on.
Geographic Location
Significant differences in the labor market in various regions throughout the United States affect the cost of hiring a gardener. For example, labor in regions like Los Angeles, California, is much more expensive than in rural towns in the Midwest.
Your geographic location will also determine how many months out of the year you need a gardener. In northern climates, you won’t need a gardener from about November to April, but in southern regions, you’ll need one throughout the year.
Specific Services Required
Gardening requires many different types of services, and the types of services you need will affect the cost of a gardener for your yard. Some services are more expensive because they require more skill or special equipment.
Many people can keep up with most yard work throughout the year and only need help with specific services. The following tasks commonly fall into this category:
- Mulching
- Pruning
- Pest control
- Leaf removal
- Lawn fertilization
- Hardscaping installations
- Landscaping design
- Flower beds
- Tree removal
- Land clearing
Most gardeners and landscaping workers charge hourly rates for these services, but they may have a minimum charge to make their trip worthwhile. In some cases, it helps if landscaping companies send more than one worker to your property because it reduces the overall cost of your project, even though it will cost more per hour.
Cost of Hiring a Gardener: A Breakdown
In this section, you’ll learn more about the average cost of a gardener, hourly vs. flat rates, and additional costs to consider when hiring a gardener, including materials, equipment, and supplies.
Average Gardener Costs
The average cost of a self-employed gardener is about $35 to $65 per hour. Some gardeners work in pairs or crews, which is generally safer, and charge from $50 to $100 per hour on average, depending on where you live.
| Number of workers | Hourly rate |
| One person | $35 to $65 |
| Two-person crew | $50 to $100 |
| Full crew | $40 to $80 per worker |
What is the difference between a landscaping worker and a gardener? There is considerable overlap in the services they provide. However, landscaping workers may be considered more skilled and usually charge more.
Hiring a landscaper costs an average of $75 per hour, ranging from $50 to $100, so hiring a gardener can be considerably cheaper for most of your gardening needs.
Hourly vs. Flat Rates
Some gardeners charge flat rates instead of hourly rates, and most have a two-hour service minimum. They may charge per visit or day.
Here are some common flat rates that gardeners charge:
| Service | Rate |
| Charge per visit | $75 to $250 |
| 2 hours every week | $70 to $150 |
| Full day | $250 to $520 |
Additional Costs to Consider for Hiring a Gardener
Gardening is a diverse field, and depending on the scope of your project, some additional costs may need to be considered.
Materials, Equipment, and Supplies
Whenever gardening work needs to be done, it usually requires materials or equipment. You may hire a gardener to help you move materials like mulch, river rock, and topsoil. These costs should be factored into your overall project cost.
Here are some common materials, equipment, and supplies that will add to the cost of your project:
| Materials | Equipment | Supplies |
| Plants | Lawn mower | Fertilizer |
| Topsoil | Tiller | Lime |
| Mulch | Pressure washer | Landscape fabric |
| Gravel | Leaf blower | Weed killer |
| Pavers | Chainsaw | Soil |
| Flagstone | String trimmer | Potting soil |
| Edging | Wheelbarrow | Compost |
| Retaining blocks | Hedge trimmer | Plant containers |
Emergency Services and Extra Work
Usually, hiring someone for emergency work costs more than routine work. If a storm takes out a tree in your yard, for example, you may need to hire a professional arborist and have a gardener come and tidy up the mess.
Some other examples of emergency landscaping work include stormwater damage cleanup, debris removal, and irrigation system repairs.
Why Should You Hire a Gardener?
Gardeners can be a blessing, but do you need one? Find out more about the benefits of hiring a gardener.
Time and Convenience
Some people find gardening relaxing, and it’s a value-added activity that they prefer to many other types of activities. However, hiring a gardener makes sense if you’d rather be on the boat on the weekends than at home taking care of your yard.
If you work full-time, can afford a gardener, and enjoy having a personal oasis in your backyard without lifting a finger, then you should hire a gardener.
Expertise and Knowledge
Lush green lawns and beautiful flower beds don’t happen by accident. Gardeners have extensive knowledge in their field, and you won’t achieve the same results if you don’t have the required expertise and knowledge.
One of the benefits of hiring a gardener is that you can learn a lot from them if you are interested and pay attention. With a gardener, you can take advantage of their expertise and enjoy having a well-groomed garden tailored to your preferences.
Enhanced Curb Appeal and Property Value
Are you interested in enhancing your curb appeal to increase your property value? That’s a perfect reason to hire a gardener, especially if it’s a house you don’t live in.
Many people hire gardeners as part of an overall property management strategy, whether they live on-site or not. Gardeners make a huge difference in property values by adding new landscaping features, planting trees, and keeping flower beds looking their best.
FAQ: Common Questions About Costs of Hiring a Gardener
1. What is the average hourly rate for hiring a gardener?
The average cost for a gardener is $75 to $250 per visit. On average, you can expect the hourly rate for gardeners to be between $35 and $65 for one person and $60 to $100 for two people. The hourly rate for a gardener varies depending on where you are located and what time of year it is.
2. How often should I have a gardener visit my property?
For most people, weekly visits from a gardener are usually adequate, even though certain times of the year may require two or more visits per week. You may need a full-time gardener if you have a large property or estate. It depends on the size of your property and the scope of the services you require.
3. Do gardeners bring their own tools and supplies?
Gardeners are usually contract workers and bring their own tools. If they work for you on a regular basis and use your tools, their work can be considered an employee/employer relationship. As an employer, you have different responsibilities than you do as a customer or client.
4. Can I negotiate the price when hiring a gardener?
Whether you negotiate the price when you hire a gardener is a matter of personal preference. You may be able to find someone willing to negotiate, or you may have to stick with their quoted price. You can also negotiate on services after you receive a quote.
5. Are there ways to reduce gardening costs?
There are many ways to reduce the cost of gardening. Some easy methods include saving seeds, using recycled landscaping materials, and swapping perennial plants on your local social media site. You can also choose inexpensive mulches and flower bed edgings and make your compost to save money on gardening.
