Gardening in Reading

Gardeners price general maintenance — weeding, pruning, hedge trimming, bed care — by the hour or half-day, with rates driven by local wages and whether they bring a van and equipment. Expect the low end for basic weeding and tidying, and the top end for skilled pruning or a gardener who hauls green waste away. Always ask whether the rate includes disposal.

A gardener maintains what exists: mowing, weeding, pruning, planting, seasonal care. A landscaper builds or rebuilds: patios, walls, turf laying, planting schemes, irrigation. Gardeners charge by the hour or visit; landscapers quote by project. Hiring a landscaper for weeding wastes money; hiring a gardener to build a retaining wall risks a bad wall.

A typical recurring visit covers lawn edges, weeding beds, deadheading, light pruning, sweeping paths, and a tidy-up. Hedge cutting, tree work, lawn treatments, and green waste haul-away are usually priced separately. Get the visit scope in writing — 'maintenance' means different things to different providers.

For an average garden, fortnightly visits in the growing season and monthly in the off-season keeps things under control. Weekly only makes sense for large or high-maintenance gardens. A longer gap costs more per visit because overgrowth takes longer to clear — fortnightly is usually the sweet spot of cost versus tidiness.

Checkatrade's 2026 figures put gardeners at £15-£45 per hour, averaging £25-£35, with self-employed day rates of £150-£300. Regular fortnightly maintenance for an average garden typically runs £30-£70 per visit. London and the South East price 20-35% above the national average.

There's no blanket ban, but it's an offence to damage active birds' nests — so reputable gardeners avoid major hedge work from roughly March to August and schedule reductions for autumn and winter. Light trimming that visibly avoids nests is done year-round; a gardener who'll flail an overgrown hedge in May without checking is a red flag.