What to charge / Gardeners · Checked 29 September 2026
UK gardener rates vary more than most trades. The 2026 price guides put the hourly rate at £14 to £25 (MyJobQuote), £25 to £45 (Fantastic Services) or £30 to £50 including VAT (Housekeep), depending on the area and the work. A full day is usually £150 to £300. Here is what common jobs cost, what your rate has to cover, and a calculator for your own price.
Rates
| Rate | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| An hour, MyJobQuote average | £14 to £25 [1] | Based on quotes through its platform, for most types of work. |
| An hour, Fantastic Services | £25 to £45 [2] | Outside London. £35 to £60 in London and the South East. |
| An hour, Housekeep | £30 to £50 [3] | Including VAT. |
| For a full day | £150 to £300 [2][1] | 7 to 8 hours outside London, labour and standard tools. MyJobQuote’s average is £150 to £200. |
| A day for a landscape gardener | £180 to £280 [1] | MyJobQuote’s average. |
| Minimum call-out for small jobs | £25 to £35 [1] | For a short visit such as weeding or a tidy-up. |
Job prices
What customers are typically quoted, from published UK price guides. Use them as a check on your own quotes, not a fixed price list.
| Job | Typical price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Lawn mowing | £20 to £45 a visit [2][3] | Outside London. £30 to £60 in London. Housekeep: £30 to £60 for a medium 50m² garden |
| Fortnightly maintenance visit | £30 to £60 [2] | Outside London. £45 to £80 in London |
| Hedge trimming, small and well kept | £30 to £70 [4] | 1 to 2 hours, waist-high, easy access, including VAT. £40 to £90 in London |
| Hedge trimming, medium or overgrown | £60 to £120 [4] | 2 to 4 hours, including VAT. £90 to £180 in London |
| Hedge trimming, large or heavily overgrown | £120 to £190 or more [4] | 4 to 6 hours or more, ladder needed, including VAT |
| Weeding, small garden | £80 to £150 [2] | Outside London. £100 to £190 in London |
| Pruning shrubs | £40 to £120 [2] | Outside London. £60 to £160 in London |
| Garden clearance, medium garden | £300 to £600 [2] | Outside London. £380 to £1,200 in London |
| Turfing, supplied and laid | £15 to £30 per m² [2] | Outside London. £20 to £38 in London |
| Green waste removal | £20 to £50 [2] | For a standard job, on top of labour |
Housekeep’s job prices assume a medium garden of about 50m² and include VAT.
Your numbers
Start from what you want to earn, add what the business costs to run, and divide by the hours you can actually charge for. Travel, quoting, paperwork and chasing payments are not chargeable hours, so be honest about them.
The starting numbers are examples, not a recommendation. Change them to match your year. The result is before income tax and National Insurance, and before VAT if you are registered.
Before you set a price
Pricing well
A 30-minute job still costs you the drive, the unloading and the loading up again. A minimum call-out, commonly £25 to £35, makes small jobs worth doing.
Taking waste away costs you time, fuel and tip fees. List it as its own line, such as £20 to £50 a job or a price per bag, so customers can see what they are paying for and choose to compost it themselves.
Fortnightly and weekly visits give you income you can plan around. Offer regular customers a set price per visit and a fixed day, and fill the gaps with one-off jobs at your full rate.
Clearances, turfing and patios vary too much to price by the hour. Visit, measure, and give a written fixed price that says what is included, especially waste removal and materials.
Mowing drops off in winter. Hedge work, pruning, clearances and hard landscaping can fill those months if you book them in during the summer while customers are thinking about their gardens.
A good rate only helps if the customer reaches you. Most callers who hit voicemail ring the next name on the list. If you miss three calls a week and two in five would have become a £120 job, that is about £624 of work a month going to someone else. See what a missed call costs, or how While You Work answers calls for gardeners while you are on a job.
Questions
It depends on the source and the area. MyJobQuote puts the average at £14 to £25 an hour, Fantastic Services at £25 to £45 outside London, and Housekeep at £30 to £50 including VAT. London rates run from about £25 to £60.
Usually £150 to £300 for a full day outside London, according to Fantastic Services, with MyJobQuote putting the average at £150 to £200. Landscape gardeners typically charge £180 to £280 a day.
Around £20 to £45 a visit outside London and £30 to £60 in London, according to Fantastic Services. Housekeep puts mowing a medium 50m² garden at £30 to £60 including VAT.
Housekeep’s 2026 guide gives £30 to £70 for a small, well-kept hedge, £60 to £120 for a medium or overgrown one and £120 to £190 or more for a large or heavily overgrown hedge, including VAT and outside London.
Most do. MyJobQuote says a minimum call-out of £25 to £35 is common for small jobs such as weeding or a tidy-up.
If you take customers’ garden waste away, check with the Environment Agency. In England, upper tier waste carrier registration costs £191.02 and lasts three years. Registration is free if you only carry waste you produce yourself.
Figures checked on 29 September 2026. Price guides change, so check the source before you rely on a figure. Where a source says whether a price includes VAT, the page says so; where it does not, treat the figure as unconfirmed on VAT.
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