What would you pay for someone to pull weeds....

This may be a strange post .... but here goes.....

On the bulletin board at work someone is looking for :someone to hire to pull weeds out of some overgrown flower beds and to do other yard clean up work. If you know someone who is a hard worker and doesn't charge an outrageous amount contact me......

I could use the extra money for my own yard projects..... I need several truckloads of mulch and gravel to complete my dry creek bed..... but I don't know what would be a reasonable amount to charge...... can anyone offer some advice.....

Thanks so much

My guess would be to charge minimum wage. Its only fair.

Years ago, my brother got an offer from an elderly neighbor to do his yard work. He paid him in cash & was the equivelant of minimum wage back then. Geeze, if a babysitter can make $5 to $10 an hour babysitting a child then I don't see why they would object to paying you minimum wage. My 2 cents,
Gemila

I have to say that pulling weeds & similar yard work is equal to barn work performed around here, which pays between $7 & $10.00 an hour. Now "professional gardeners/landscapers" get between $15 & $20 an hour to perform a lot of the same gardening tasks, so I guess it depends on how you market yourself - lol!!

Also need to keep in mind that professional gardeners & landscapers have to pay taxes on their earnings...

Go & look at the 'job/s' .. get ALL of the details and frequency, if applicable .. and base your fees .. as a 'contract' for 'x' many of hours, etc. .. and relay to the prospective 'employer' .. And go from there.

Note: DO ask all questions .. obtain all details in (their) entirety !! Double check what these folks will expect of you .. to clean, weed, plant, transplant, weedeat, mow, till, and 'tidy' .. and how often ...

To get the job .. be reasonable .. but don't give your services away either!

And pray tell .. never take anything for granted via the telephone either - sight unseen!!

.. A lil tale of a 'now learned', fool ..
Many years ago .. in an effort to make some extra money, and not be cooped up in an office behind a desk somewhere. I opted to take on doin' the kind of stuff I really enjoyed doin'! Sorta in my 'element' .. My first job was to do a very small yard, and indeed it was .. less than 5 miles from me then! (thought, THIS .. is gonna be sooome nice!) When I commited to do the yard, and agreed to the pay .. the lady called and told me that she had to postpone a week, possibly two for she was goin' out of town .. but still wanted me. Miss 'lack of sense' here - told her that would jes fine. In the week that passed, her yard grew to unfathonable heights. I had to pay to borrow someones else's big wheel push mower to cut that mess. Ya think, lesson learned - ummm, hmmm .. yeah, right ..

I was also contacted quite quickly, by the daughter of a relatively well to do lady .. that wanted someone to cut and maintain her mothers' yard every two weeks. The daughter insisted, that she felt that the pay she was offerin' was most adequate and more than generous .. for cutting a quarter acre of lawn, and tending to a few beds. Although reluctantly, I agreed - sight unseen! The yard was actually an acre of ground, and numerous overgrown flower beds! That's been about 20 years ago .. and, I collected $60 every two weeks to mow and remove whatever gosh-awful over grown lawn had developed, even after way too much rain had nurtured the grass! Killed a Snapper riding mower after only 3 visits ...

So keep your chin up, spirits high, but take no low-downs on all that may truly be involved. GO and carefully assess all that will be expected of you .. then, guage your fees 'reasonably' .. but logically, as associated to whats expected from YOUR labors! But, jes don't short-change yourself ...

But ya know .. it's the bumps in the road, along the conventional way .. that teaches us to take the longer 'detours' in our lives.

Hee .. jes goin' the long way around .. in tryin' to make a point .. LOL

Best wishes to ya vs71099 !!

- Magpye

I totally agree with Magpye. DO THE HOMEWORK FIRST. BE PROFFESSIONAL ABOUT THIS. IT IS A BUSNINESS DEAL.

I use to clean houses for extra income. The last house I did I got paid $10 an hour. The person doing it now gets the same. And this house is already clean all the time because no one is home most of the time and they are middleage folks with no children.

Thanks for all the good advice..... I called a lawn service and they get 35.00 an hour. I asked a couple people at work who hire a housecleaner and they pay 70.00 for a 3 hour cleaning ..... which comes to about 23.00. I went and looked at the yard - that was really good advice - it is completely overgrown with weeds..... I tried to be very professional and we agreed to start with a small flower bed, the intent is to prepare it for planting next spring and we agreed to 20.00 an hour plus expenses such as ROUNDUP (LOL), dirt and mulch....

I thought she probably would think 20.00 was alot but it's really overgrown...... so I wouldn't have been upset if she'd have passed and I will be earning my 20.00.... so Magpye's LOOK first advice was really good......

I think I'll send her an email on what was discussed just so that today after the dust has settled we all still agree on what is to be accomplished......

Thanks guys

AhhhL-Right !! .. We're plum tickled fer ya !!

* applaudin' happily here *

Mitey wonderful blessin's to you, on your 'yarden wish list' and current projects too. The 'dry creek bed' sounds like it's gonna be one stunning addition, when it's completed.

.. and maybe you can treat us to some pitters of it, when you're thru !?! .. Oh my, pitters from now, while it's still 'in progress' .. are always wonderful treats for us feller DG'ers too, ya know! .. That way, we can see it's progress along the way .. !! (hint, hint)

- Magpye

And don't forget the seed snatchin' and cutting clipping while you're cleaning up the yard! Think of it as tips!

Thanks Magpye.... your little ol' email shur nuf tickled my funny bone......

and I do take pics off all my projects just so I can feel good about spending that much money "LOL".....

as for seed snatchin' and cuttins' - her yard is full of weeds........ those nasty stickery ones even....... and yes they are tips..... I just have to make sure I don't wash my jeans and my bloomers in the same load that would be most uncomfortable "grin"

Shucks .. vs71099 ..
Jes mitey glad to've been of some service to ya. If my ol cyber-mouth don't ever do nuffin' but brang folks a good giggler or two once in a while .. welllllll, my mission's been accomplished .. heehee

However, there are some epidodes that come about, where it may seem that I 'cyber-literally' .. try to utterly torment the dickens out of some .. jes to get'em to kick some of their expensive habits to tim-buck-2 .. and lay down the lame 'arm-pit' growth of 'crutches'; but, sadly, some of the shennigans are usually to no avail. But, my heart's gen'rallee in the right place ...

Oh my! 'Slap my pappy happy', Kathleen!! .. You're SOOO right !!
Me .. a genuine 'fell off'n the wagon' Cleptobotaniac (seed snatchin') re-hab failure .. ( < hmm, figger'at one out!! .. LOL)

The snatchin' haint even crossed my wee pea brain! .. I'm truly loosin' it, I tell ya .. fer I am sooo awful ashamed o'mahseff! .. ( .. that, or I'm really tryin' to refrain from such dangerous endeavors .. unconsciously of course! .. ) Naw, 'at aint it - jes caint be!! .. LOL ..

So, .. let me backtrack here, and 'tempt to make some kindly form of restitution (and redemption of maself) .. to my feller seed snatchin' DG'ers ..... * vs71099 - don't go allowin' yornseff to be d-seev'd by the abundant overgrowth of any weed invasions in any flower bed !! They didn't start out as 'weed-beds', ya know - so, thars jes gotta be at least one or two wondrous affiliational flowers, of some kind or nuther .. under that mass of botanical ruins and misfits - sumwhar! Jes keep'em'air spyballs peel'd ... k?
(heehee)

((huggerooners to ya !!))

- Magpye

A written contract listing exactly what you will do to exactly what area of the yard would be useful should the employer attempt to later try to say you agreed to something else or more than you really did. It might even prevent a law suit. People with lots of money to spend and little intention of doing anything remotely connected with physical labor(like keeping their gardens or yards weeded and mowed themselves) don't mind giving their money to attorneys.

I'd think $10.00 an hour (no less, because it IS hard work) and as much lemonade and cookies as they want.

hi folks- i work in other people's gardens, and also have people who work with me, and in general, pay is scaled according to skill. a person who is familar with weeds (you'd be amazed at how many people have no idea what is a weed, and what is a garden plant) who needs no training, and can get right to work and help a garden look much better is not an untrained, minimum wage earner. what is payed for garden work, and garden clean-up varies a lot acording to area- where my sister lives in the boston, mass. area, a gardener earns 40.00 an hour- here it is 20-30. i have paid high school students who really need to be trained, though they are enthusiastic 10 an hour, but in the long run, the knowledgable person who you are paying more gets the job done more accurately and faster. don't underrate yourself!

wow! that was a very good way to word that. And I think you're right.

I would sometimes hire teenagers to help me with certain tasks, but they are cheap labor because you have to supervise them and let them know certain things. There are ALOT of people out there that don't know the difference between a weed and a plant. And that even changes geographically. They are pretty good at raking leaves, but I'd rake out my gardens first, before they arrive. :-)

sjms - yes... that's what I told her..... just not in such a good way ..... her flower beds are completely overgrown with weeds. I told her she could probably get a high school kid to pull the weeds for less but that is all they'd probably do - pull the weeds, which would probably just show back up unless they worked really hard at getting them out and not leaving a bunch of root systems. My goal will be to clean it out and prepare her a flower bed ready for planting next spring..... weeding, tilling, replacing the dirt, mulching it and even offering some planting ideas. She agreed to the 20.00 - I don't feel guilty I'll earn it by the time I get those weeds pulled.... but part of it is the challenge to create for me.... I know as if I don't have enough of that in my own yard..... ; - )

Karrie20x - In all fairness to the non-gardening population - some weeds are quite pretty ..... until you realize how obnoxious they can be .... and I've been guilty of leaving a few "pretty" weeds myself...... Her weeds are obnoxious and hopefully she's not to attached..... as for teenagers and cheap labor to help - you are right they try but I think theres alot to be said for having someone who actually likes to garden working in your garden vs someone who just wants paid ........

yes, and the root system of some weeds can vary - some go very deep and almost impossible to get by the root without a very good shovel with someone who can dig deep - they can go to China.

vs......I do some weeding and such stuff and I charge $25.00/hr. Like I told one lady "I work fast and I don't play highway department person and lean on my shovel. I believe in going in there and getting the job done quickly and GOOD!!! When my husband helps, he also gets that, but the 2 of us can do an amazing amount of work in an hour's time, so I have no qualms about charging it. I feel that people are getting their money's worth from me/us. If spraying or anything else is done, that is extra for the chemicals unless they have it and the sprayer, then its just the labor involved. I am a busy person here on the farm, so I strive to give them the most for their money. I don't have time to fool around and make alot of "busy work" just to get the money.

I agree Anna_Z ..... I'm not a trained landscaper but I think my own gardening experiences can save time and money, that will more than make up for 20.00 an hour.... Besides gardening is hard work and most of us do it to sit back and appreciate the results... it won't be my yard to sit back and appreciate so really money is a small compensation for what we "gardeners" normally receive as beneifts from the hard work..... I get the money, but also weeds and manual labor .... she'll get to enjoy the blooms and butterflies from spring until fall next year.....

vs- glad you are asking for 20- i was worried there- you will do a heck of a better job than someone who doesn't know what cleaning up a garden bed really requires. i was just back at a job that we had done earlier in the season, and the area that had been weeded by the high-school senior who was part of our team (as enthusiastic as she was), was completely regrown because the roots hadn't been totally removed! you also won't pull out a whole batch of bellflowers or what ever, cause they look bad right now- so enjoy your work! i've learned a lot working in other people's gardens- it's fun because often there is a whole different pallet than my garden, and i can enjoy something different!

I pay my "gardener" $10/hr. He pulls weeds (and is very careful) but also does a variety of other yard and garden chores like triming hedges, etc. This is more than he asked for, but less than the professional yard services charge in my area so I figure it works out well for both of us. The professional services want $25 just to mow a tiny section in my front yard that I can mow (with a push mower) in under 30 minutes; they use a riding mower and can cut it in 10-15 minutes!

Oops! Just realized that you have already agreed on a price - double what I'm paying. Sounds like we both got a good deal!

This message was edited Oct 3, 2005 12:43 PM