How Much Can Gardening Really Cost You in the UK?

How Much Can Gardening Really Cost You in the UK?

Tending to our gardens can come at a cost, especially if we’re keeping up with garden trends which are constantly changing! It’s estimated that over the course of a gardener’s lifetime, they’ll spend £30,000 on their garden. A staggering amount by anyone’s standards, but just how does the amount break down?

Gardening Express carried out a survey to find where this money was being distributed. £10,000 was being spent on plants and £9,000 on renewing old decking and creating a new patio. This decking cost is based on renewing the patio and decking six times over their lifetime.

Although the £30,000 figure came from research carried out in 2014, recent research shows that spending on our gardens in the UK is slowing down. The survey by Lloyds Bank Insurance found that households spend an average of £587 on gardening in a 12-month period between 2015 and 2016.

So, let’s calculate this to see the difference. If we take the average UK lifespan at 80 years old and consider that most Brits won’t buy their first home until they’re 30, we can assume around 50 years of gardening. Based on the £587 average household spend, more recent data suggests that this spend has dropped to £29,350 — a £750 decrease on the figures from 2014.

It’s hard to find the time and motivation to do the gardening ourselves, so this is when the option of hiring a professional comes in. However, this isn’t without its own costs, as compost retailer Compost Direct investigates…

• A professionally cut lawn

If you were to employ a gardener to cut your lawn, this will cost you on average £30 depending on the size of your green area. Between March and September, this will usually be required fortnightly, racking up a total cost of £420 annually. Assuming an average lawnmower costs £100, and this is just a fraction of the cost of professional lawn cutting service.

• Creating a patio space in your garden

Having a patio in your garden will make it complete – you’ll be able to sit out in your home’s outdoor space all night. Laying a patio around 4m by 2m costs £475 on average. If you were to do the work yourself, you’d need around 18 900mm x 900mm paving slabs. You’ll also need to consider the cost of hardcore and bedding mortar. It is also a labour-intensive task so, while you may be able to save money, it may be more worthwhile to call in the professionals.

• Having a shed built in your garden

The basic design of a shed for your garden will cost you around £150. However, the cost of building a garden shed is £150 too, assuming the flat base is already in place. Although it may seem complex, building your own shed could save you some cash.

• Installing decking

A lot of people leave the installation process of decking to the experts. But how do the costs compare?

It’s important to bear in mind the costs for both raw materials and installation before you go ahead with the job. For budget timber, you can expect to pay around £14 per square meter. For a decking that’s around 14m2 — approximately the size you’ll need to house a dining table and chairs — you can expect to pay £196 just for the basic boards.

Some people like to go for premium hardwood boards when installing decking though. This price rises to approximately £90 per square meter, bringing the total to £1,260 for the same 14m2 area. You’ll also have the cost of fittings on top of this, as well as a drill and saw if you don’t already have this.

As this can be a complicated process, UK joiners usually charge somewhere between £150-200 per day for their services – so make sure to find out how many days it will take to install. In total, installing basic decking will likely cost around £596, while you can expect to pay £1,660 for premium hardwood decking.

Sources:

• http://www.independent.co.uk/property/gardening/britons-spend-an-average-of-30000-on-their-gardens-over-a-lifetime-9386795.html
• https://local.which.co.uk/advice/cost-price-information-gardener-landscape-designer
• http://quotationcheck.com/timber-decking-costs/#

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