Table of contents
- Hourly wage or m² price?
- Overview of the prices for lawn mowing
- These facts should be requested in the offer
- price comparison
- Beware of dream prices
- Are lawn care contracts worth it?
- And what about the kid next door?
The green dream in front of the house only remains a green dream if it is mowed very regularly - but unfortunately the life of regularity sometimes causes difficulties. When a new partner, a new job or, unfortunately, a completely new leg in a cast take up the time that was reserved for mowing the lawn, outside help is needed. Having the lawn mowed by a professional is a good solution if the price is reasonable, and there are a few other options:
Hourly wage or m² price?
Seems to be a basic decision to be made before the company search begins. But that is a bit deceptive, as all the considerations to be included in a price comparison show:
- The square meter prices start at 0.05 euros and end at approx. 0.50 euros (if you include all additional costs)
- The hourly wage starts at EUR 8.84 (gross minimum wage per hour) and goes up to approx. 20 Euros
- How many square meters an employee manages per hour also depends on the lawnmower used
- There are lawn tractors, bar mowers and flail mowers, each with different mowing widths
- Each of these machines will finish the same lawn in a slightly different amount of time
- However, some lawn mowers are better suited for large areas, some for small areas, some for hilly areas and some for smooth flat areas
- The professional has different devices and also knows which device mows which type of lawn best
- But he has to pay completely different taxes and operating costs than a small business owner
- If clippings have to be disposed of outside the property, it must be clear whether this is possible and how disposal is included in the price
- The first cut of a lawn that has not been mowed for a long time can cost more than the regular follow-up cut
- Or not if you sign a long-term maintenance contract
- You can also have the scarifying and fertilizing done at the same time, which of course costs extra
Complete packages can seem very cheap, but they don't prevent you from doing the math. In general, you should know what exactly you are commissioning and if you are using borrowed property on the property you have just acquired "Test mow" with the mower and the stopwatch in your hand (which, in case of doubt, will cost you extra for the "first cut" saved).
Overview of the prices for lawn mowing
On average, the following m² prices are quoted for mowing a lawn:
- For smaller areas up to 150 m², mowing costs 0.17 to 0.20 euros per m²
- Medium-sized areas of 150 to 1,500 m² are mowed for 0.11 to 0.16 euros per m²
- Large areas from 1,500 m² are freed from overgrowth from 0.05 euros per m²
- Green waste disposal is available from 16 euros per m³
- Since a cubic meter is a lot, it depends more on how and whether parts of a cubic meter are billed
- Travel costs can rise to fantastic heights, but with "reasonable companies" they stay within a range of 10 to 50 euros, depending on the distance
Incidentally, these prices should only apply to driveable areas, if the (own or third-party) lawn mower is to be operated by hand, the costs increase with the m² price.
But there is also billing per hour, for which the following average prices can be applied:
- Garden helpers without special knowledge: between €10 and €15 per hour
- Garden helper with specialist knowledge (e.g. B. Trainee in the nursery): €12 to €18
- Gardener who cares, fertilizes, etc. can advise: 12.00 to (open at the top, extends to garden design/landscape architecture)
Whether the total costs in this case are really hardly manageable, which is why you should not get involved in that someone who works for hourly wages (as can sometimes be read in online articles about working for hourly wages) can be doubted become. When a company wants to get rich with household services that require personal contact, of all things, and a number of employees in the area who need three jobs because of underpayment and who can hardly hold the lawnmower due to lack of strength, it can also do this if billed via m² prices do. And what the costs are per hour or per square meter can be calculated by anyone who knows the size of the area and looks at the clock when starting work.
Tip:
Proximity of the company to your property is top for such contracts with recurring services. If the garden center next door has garden services in their program, they're happy to send them out once a week An employee will pass the travel costs, who will then have the towel in front of your house in no time at all for a maximum of €20 net mows. If the "lawn mower" (which in this case means the device and the person operating it) travel costs by truck from the nearest large city for €79 has to be carted in, because of the poor accessibility of the area, a manual lawn mower is used for 0.30 euros per m² and 30 euros extra for difficulties If you add the shrubs and the garden shed on the lawn, after mowing 100 m² you have €140 on the clock (and start to think about whether you want a lawn let it grow - which can be a sensible idea for temporary "mowing prevention", meadow mowers and brushcutters are available from machine rental companies in hardware store nearby).
These facts should be requested in the offer
Lawn mowing is not the same as lawn mowing, the following details should be discussed in the offer:
- In which units (time/area) is the lawn mowing billed?
- Which device is used for mowing the lawn?
- Is there a better lawnmower for the lawn area to be mowed (which the requested provider may not have in use)?
- Does the clippings have to be disposed of separately, is this taken into account in the offer?
- How are the prices staggered in relation to the size of the area?
- In which season is the lawn area to be worked on?
- Does the nature of the lawn affect the cost in any way?
- Is there a higher price charged for the first cut?
- How long without mowing counts as a first cut? 14 days, three weeks?
- Are hardship allowances calculated, e.g. B. for trees, bushes, playground equipment on the property or for impassable, hilly terrain/slopes?
- Is a travel fee charged?
If possible, first ask for a written price comparison (by e-mail). Then you can sort out in advance the providers who call unrealistic fantasy prices without having to discuss with them why these fantastic prices are absolutely justified are. In the second round there are (free) viewing appointments, which of course are made by reputable service providers offer, because they need to see the lawn in order to really calculate the amount of work and thus the costs can.
During this viewing appointment, you get to know the entrepreneur, the employee working for you, or both – and it definitely does It makes sense to go by gut feeling and sympathy and not “blindly” to the company with the best price-performance ratio give an order.
Tip:
If, for a manageable period of time, e.g. B. are "prevented from mowing" due to a finite physical limitation (leg in plaster and Co.), you may be able to fulfill a child's dream: rent a robotic lawnmower that you can operate yourself with minimal physical strain can. A ride-on zero-turn mower with approx. 107 cm working width costs z. B. for 24 hours around €120, is easy to manoeuvre, reaches high speeds, has a high mowing performance and makes mowing the lawn sheer fun. If there is no machine rental company in your area, but there is a community organization that cares about your community, does she perhaps already have a ride-on mower in the machine park that can be used jointly (or can be encouraged to buy it become)?
price comparison
In summary, this means that you would have to make a list for a price comparison in which all the decisive factors are included. Only when this list has been completely filled out for each provider are you really comparing “like with like”.
Hourly wage and price per square meter cannot be compared? Oh yes, because the provider with the square meter price has to give some idea of how many square meters he or she has. manage its employees in the hour. This idea should also be reflected in the contract in a comprehensible manner, otherwise you would give the company your Authorize signature to bill an employee walking back and forth on your lawn with a lawn mower until they are in retirement goes...
Tip:
If you're one of those committed citizens who consciously question their consumption decisions, you'll want to hire a company that pays its employees "living wages." It is not yet possible to find out simply by searching. The first advertising platforms in this direction are currently being considered, but it is not that easy to work out the appropriate criteria without social Committed companies "have to strip naked" (as opposed to competitors who don't publish company facts at all, happily rip people off and fist their sleeves laugh). But you can stick to companies that have already proven when they are founded that they do not only work for themselves or "growth": gGmbHs (non-profit Limited liability companies whose income goes to charitable causes), workshops for employees with limited health, cooperatives (profits are distributed among members), etc.
Beware of dream prices
If lawn mowing is offered at an unusually low price, it also applies here that it will probably be too good to be true.
Such providers often work with unusually long contract texts or terms and conditions, on page 97 of which a condition for the cheap price is listed, which your lawn unfortunately not fulfilled (minimum lawn size, certain lawn texture, resourceful suppliers can certainly have completely different requirements for the low price get an idea). For the legal experts among you who now object that surprising clauses in general terms and conditions are invalid: According to § 305 c BGB, it is not entirely certain, however, that everyone revised magistrate finds the time to read the terms and conditions up to page 97 and the remaining 400 pages, with which the entrepreneur, who has now become an opponent in the lawsuit, "throws up" the court really read.
It is not a rip-off if a provider does not work with a ride-on mower (lawn tractor) or not at all with the latest equipment. On the contrary, when in doubt, an old lawn mower says that this supplier knows what they are doing; if the self-propelled vehicle was really faster for large areas, this can always be adjusted via the price. And an old lawn mower does not necessarily have to have a blunt cutting blade, but can also be maintained - right down to the old manual lawn mower with a self-sharpening blade (works, and that's exactly why it's no longer manufactured), with which the energetic trainee from the garden center next door can clean your lawn in a few minutes and for manageable euros cuts.
Are lawn care contracts worth it?
If you have collected all the facts beforehand and made a note of how long you yourself have been involved in regular lawn care, maybe.
Because the current maintenance contract is a mutual contract like any other, but the service provider has within a calculable income available after the notice period and often rewards this security with an discount.
And what about the kid next door?
In a "normal neighborhood" in which "normal social contact" is cultivated, he would actually be the first to be asked whether he would take over the lawn mowing. Guaranteed short distances, the lawn mower is "managed with the exuberant power of youth", and you help a young person who wants to buy their first things to (perhaps their first) Job.
Pupils may (with the consent of the legal guardian) work part-time from the age of 13, as long as the job is easy and suitable for children, § 5 JArbSchG. However, please be sure to observe the legal framework here.
garden editorial I write about everything that interests me in my garden.
Learn more about lawn care
Sanding the lawn: how much sand per m²?
The lawn is the focal point of the garden. Sanding the lawn can effectively influence its appearance. However, there are a few things to consider, because too much of it can also damage the green. Read here how much sand you should apply per m² when sanding the lawn.
Overseed the lawn without scarifying?
Which hobby gardener doesn't dream of a dense, lush green lawn? Bald spots not only look unsightly, they also encourage weed growth. But can you overseed a lawn without scarifying it first?
Recognize and fight couch grass successfully | 10 tips
Couch grass is one of the most stubborn weeds. However, there are also differences here, because not every species becomes a problem in the garden. However, if the creeping or common couch grass is up to mischief, you can take action against it with perseverance and the right techniques.
Iron fertilizer: the right use in the lawn
Iron fertilizer supplies the lawn and works against moss. However, it has to be used correctly. Therefore, observe the following tips to achieve optimal results for the grass plants and to avoid damage to the meadow.
Does coffee grounds help against clover in the lawn?
Clover in the lawn is a nuisance that many garden owners struggle with. Lawns, which in some cases are interspersed with numerous nests, are often affected. As an alternative to chemical agents, many wonder whether coffee grounds are effective against weeds.
Yarrow in the lawn | How do I get rid of yarrow?
There is no question that yarrow is one of the best-known medicinal herbs. It helps against colds and is used for skin diseases and gynecological problems. On the manicured lawn, she is seen as a troublemaker. How do you get rid of them? Are there effective alternatives to the chemical club?
