Gardener & Landscaper Day Rate UK 2026: £120-£280

"Gardener" and "landscaper" cover very different work and very different rates. A gardener handles ongoing maintenance — mowing, hedges, weeding, general upkeep. A landscaper takes on construction-level work — patios, decking, retaining walls, full garden builds — and charges accordingly more. This guide covers general gardening and maintenance rates; if you're pricing hard landscaping and construction work specifically, see our landscaping quote guide, where day rates run £200-£480 depending on region.

Gardener / Maintenance Day Rate by Region — UK 2026

Region	Day Rate	Hourly Rate
London	£180-£280	£25-£40
South East	£150-£220	£22-£34
Midlands	£130-£190	£18-£28
North	£120-£175	£16-£26
Scotland & Wales	£120-£175	£16-£26

Common Job Prices

Job	Typical Price	Time
Regular lawn mowing (small garden)	£20-£35	30-45 mins
Hedge trimming (medium)	£60-£150	Half day
Garden clearance	£200-£500	1-2 days
Turfing (small garden)	£600-£1,200	1-2 days
Patio/paving laying	£60-£100/m²	Varies
Full garden landscaping	£2,000-£8,000+	1-3 weeks

How to Calculate Your Day Rate

1. Target take-home: What do you want to earn after tax? E.g. £24,000
2. Add tax & NI: Roughly 25%. £24,000 + 25% = £30,000
3. Add business costs: Van, tools, machinery maintenance, insurance, waste disposal. Roughly £4,000-£7,000/year. Total: £35,500
4. Divide by working days: Roughly 200 days a year (gardening work is more seasonal than most trades). £35,500 / 200 ≈ £178/day minimum
5. Add profit margin: 15-20%. £178 x 1.15 ≈ £205/day

Try our free rate calculator to run your own numbers, then turn the result into a sendable quote with TradeQuoteAI's quoting software.

Hourly, Day Rate, or Fixed Price?

Regular maintenance work — mowing, weeding, hedge trimming — is usually charged hourly or per visit, since customers want a predictable recurring cost. Larger one-off jobs like turfing, planting schemes, or clearance work better as a day rate. Full landscaping projects with a design and multiple elements (paving, planting, fencing) should always be a detailed fixed-price quote, broken down by area, so scope changes are easy to re-price.

Pricing Regular Maintenance Contracts

Regular maintenance is the backbone of most gardening businesses, and pricing it well is what turns a busy summer into a steady year. Rather than charging by the hour each visit, many gardeners agree a fixed price per visit on a set schedule — for example weekly or fortnightly during the growing season and monthly over winter.

• Define what each visit includes — mowing, edging, weeding beds, blowing paths, taking away cuttings.
• Price occasional tasks separately — hedge cutting, pruning and leaf clearance are better quoted as extras than squeezed into the regular visit.
• Agree a notice period — a simple written agreement protects your diary if a customer stops mid-season.

Green Waste: Don't Give It Away

Clearing cuttings, branches and weeds is real work with a real cost. Businesses that carry waste need to be registered as a waste carrier with the Environment Agency (or the equivalent body in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), and tipping or composting sites may charge for trade loads. Either add a set fee per load or bag, or build disposal into the job price — but make sure it appears on the quote rather than quietly coming out of your margin.

Sample Quote: Garden Clearance

Here's an itemised quote for clearing an overgrown medium-sized garden outside London:

Item	Price
Clearance labour: cut back overgrowth, clear beds, strim lawn (1.5 days at £150/day)	£225
Green waste removal and disposal (2 van loads)	£80
Total	£305

That sits inside the typical £200-£500 range for garden clearance. Separating the waste line shows the customer why a clearance costs more than a normal maintenance visit.

What to Include on a Gardening Quote

• A clear description of each area and task
• Whether it's a one-off job or a regular visit, and how often
• Green waste removal — included or charged separately
• Materials such as turf, topsoil, bark or plants, listed separately
• Access requirements (side gate, parking, no through-house access)
• Start date, how weather delays are handled, and payment terms

For hard landscaping, such as patios and fencing, see our landscaping quote guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do gardeners charge per day in the UK?

UK gardeners typically charge £120-£180 per day outside London in 2026, rising to £180-£280 in London.

How much does landscaping cost in the UK?

A full garden landscaping project typically costs £2,000-£8,000+ depending on size and scope. Simple maintenance visits cost £20-£35 per hour.

Should gardening work be charged hourly or by the day?

Regular maintenance is usually hourly or per visit. Larger one-off jobs like turfing or clearance work better as a day rate or fixed price.

Do gardeners charge for green waste removal?

Most do, either as a set fee per load or bag, or built into the price of a clearance job. Businesses that carry waste need to be registered as a waste carrier, so disposal is a genuine cost that should appear on the quote.

How often should regular garden maintenance be booked?

Weekly or fortnightly during the growing season, and monthly or on request over winter, is a common pattern. Pricing each visit on a regular schedule gives the customer a predictable cost and gives the gardener steady work.

Related Guides

• How to Quote Landscaping Work
• Driveway Cost UK 2026
• How to Quote Fencing Work
• Signs You're Undercharging as a Tradesman
• Best Quoting Apps for UK Tradesmen