Gardening hourly rate

What is a fair average hourly rate for trimming hedges.
I am paying $120 an hour.

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Wow. Perhaps if they were dressed as such:

https://choice.community/t/shonkys-2018-countdown-vote-now/14621/54?u=draughtrider

I might consider it … That seems like very high hourly rate for trimming a hedge … is it 8 metres tall and requires a cherry picker and a working at heights ticket, or are we talking a normal suburban 1.5-2m-ish hedge?

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Or perhaps it requires heavy equipment - is this the guys?

image

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I’ve found that the rate varies a lot depending on the nature of the work and who is doing it. Some general gardeners will do trimming (tidy up / light with hedge clippers) for the same rate they do other gardening and this can be as cheap as $35 per hour. Where you need someone to do a heavier trim and they use electric trimmers, have to use a ladder, and have to remove a lot of prunings it tends to be more expensive and the rate you are paying is pretty much in the ball park for that.

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Arborists quote my hedges around $1800, gardeners about $900 but gardeners can’t do it properly since they don’t have the kit to reach a few tops. As the others wrote, it depends on the hedges and the person(s) qualifications, and whether they need special equipment. One skilled arborist was up front that he gets $350 an hour (!!) for his skills, so why would he quote less for a hedge, and I probably should go elsewhere.

I did find a qualified low overhead arborist who did the job for $1,200, and did it well :slight_smile:

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1.5m average, takes an hour to trim.

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You pay a premium for small jobs as workers need to factor in travel time and non billable hours, even so $120 for the job seems a bit steep to me for what is only semi-skilled work for one person.

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How long and how high are your hedges?

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Front and back are like this (the photo shows about 1/2 the length), two sides are the neighbour’s so I only get them faced not topped. They get done every Nov.

This nearby property is said to pay $5~8,000 a go! That ‘hole’ is the vehicle entry to help with the scale. Big enough for a large panel van.

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The neighbours’ hedge looks like a Macrocarpa.

We have seen some fantastic Macrocarpa hedges in Tassie but they would probably be difficult to trim as they are a tree.

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Given that 1.5 metres isn’t that tall any reasonable “gardener” could do it with basic equipment. Average gardening rate from our experience is $45.00 per hour… unless it’s Jims then you will pay a premium.

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I purchased a hedge trimmer and do my own . I think my garden guy used to charge me around $40 an hour .

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I think the solution to that is either a ‘hedge fund’ or ‘glyphosate’ :wink:

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Stihl along with others do a useful rechargeable pole mounted pruner. Much easier to handle than the 2 stroke petrol version. Comes with a neat chain saw head. Probably able to prune macrocarpa (exotic cyprus) and the occasional slash pine as needed too.

While I do my own trimming, our neighbour opposite has a contractor. I pay between $55 and $75 per hour per person for professionals who bring all their own gear and are qualified to do all types of land care work.

The neighbour had to shop around and found the same as noted here. The rates they had seem from reasonable (approx $110/hr for two with small mulcher) to the expensive guy who might be budgeting a new John Deere with boom mounted tree pruner.

Picture giant buzz saw on a flailing arm. Common in NZ and a multi purpose tool. Of course the saving comes with the speed of such a device. 30 minutes and your hedge row can be all stumps if you choose.

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It’s Jims. $120 per hour, tip fee included.

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Jims, includes tidy up & tip fee.

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I have the lawn mowed and trimmed for a medium-size garden and pay $45 per hour. Found the guy through Hire-a-Hubby. I know Jims Mowing charges a few dollars more. Hope this helps you!

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Some years back a guy mowing our lawn told us the tip fee was included because green waste was free to dump at the tip.

or a helicopter? :wink:

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