GARDEN · 5 MIN READ
What gardening costs this month
Every published Irish rate for garden work, October 2026: by the hour, by the visit and by the job, what the green waste costs to get rid of, and the two pieces of paper a gardener should be able to show you before a chainsaw or a sprayer comes out of the van.
IN SHORT
- Published Irish guides put weeding and border work at €25–€50 an hour, hedge trimming at €30–€60 an hour, lawn mowing at €30–€75 a visit, a garden clean-up at €80–€300 and power washing at €60–€150+. Dublin marketplace data puts the median hedge-trimming job at €150 and the median gardening task at €135.
- Green waste is not free: Fingal's recycling centres charge €6 for a car boot, €10 for a full car and €35 for a car with a trailer; Dublin City Council proposed €3 for an 80-litre bag and €21 for a car load from January 2026. Removal by the gardener is €50–€200+.
- Two credentials to ask for: anyone applying professional weedkiller must hold a DAFM Professional User number; anyone with a chainsaw should have accredited training and the full protective kit, which the HSA says is the minimum before felling anything.
The rates on the record
No Irish body publishes an index of garden-service prices, so what follows is every published figure, with its date.
OnlineTradesmen, in its garden price guide of October 2025 and its summer 2026 update: weeding and border maintenance €25–€50 an hour; hedge trimming and shrub shaping €30–€60 an hour; planting and container refresh €25–€45 an hour; lawn mowing and edging €30–€75 a visit; a basic tidy-up €80–€300 and a clean-up package €150–€350; green-waste removal €50–€200 and more; power washing of patios and paths €60–€150 and more.
Airtasker Ireland, from completed Dublin tasks on its live page this week: a gardening task €93 to €174, median €135; hedge trimming €120 to €173, median €150; weeding €75 to €100; a garden clean typically two to four hours.
Bark Ireland puts the average gardening job in Ireland at about €250, with a typical range of €130–€400.
For scale, the Farmers Journal in July 2026 worked out the minimum viable rate for a tractor-mounted hedge cutter with operator at €71.75 an hour, before fuel. That is agricultural work, not a garden, but it tells you why a man with a petrol trimmer charging €40 an hour is not overcharging.
Nobody publishes a per-metre hedge price in Ireland, and no Irish source publishes a tree-surgery price: tree work is quoted on height, access and disposal, and a quote is the only honest number.
Locufy's guide prices for 2026–2027 for each garden service are on the price guide; the hourly rate on a gardener's profile is the rate you pay.
What the waste costs
A gardener's price often depends on who takes the cuttings away. Dublin's councils charge for green waste at their recycling centres. Fingal, since January 2025: car boot €6, full car or SUV €10, car van or car with trailer €35, van €80. Dublin City Council's proposal for January 2026, in its committee papers: an 80-litre bag from €2 to €3, a cubic-metre bag from €16 to €21, a car load €21, a car with trailer €55. South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown do not publish their green-waste charges online; ring before you load the car. Against those figures, €50–€200 for the gardener to remove it, with the van and the time, is the going rate rather than a mark-up.
The two pieces of paper
Weedkiller. Anyone applying professional-use pesticides, which includes the glyphosate used on paths and beds, must be registered with the Department of Agriculture as a Professional User and hold a PU number. The obligation is registration, not just a course: a gardener is not a professional user until the Department issues the number. Accepted qualifications include the QQI handheld-sprayer award and the City & Guilds PA1 and PA6; the Department reported more than 24,000 applications. Ask for the PU number before anyone sprays your garden.
Chainsaws. The Health and Safety Authority's advice is blunt: if you cannot safely fell trees you should complete an accredited chainsaw course and pass the assessment, a basic small-tree felling course takes up to five days, and if you cannot meet the competence or protective-equipment requirements you must use a competent chainsaw provider. After the January 2024 storms it said it in one line: "never work on your own with a chainsaw". A gardener who turns up for tree work with a chainsaw should have the training certificate, the helmet, visor, ear defenders, chainsaw gloves and chainsaw trousers, and someone else on site.
“You should engage the services of a competent chainsaw operator.”
Health and Safety Authority, 23 January 2024
€30–€60
hedge trimming per hour (OnlineTradesmen, 2025–26)
€150
median hedge-trimming job in Dublin (Airtasker, live data)
€6 / €10
green waste, car boot / full car, Fingal recycling centres
By the numbers — figures from the sources listed at the end of this piece.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Gardeners and hedge cutters near you, with their rate, score and checks — no account needed to look.WRITTEN WITH
The listed gardeners who gave their October lists and time for this piece. Real names, real listings — nobody is invented.
Magda NowakGardener · Lucan · ★ 4.9 · 64 reviews
Greenway GardensGarden maintenance · Swords · ★ 4.7 · 112 reviews
Ciara LynchHedge cutting · Rathfarnham · ★ 5.0 · 21 reviews
Questions this piece gets asked
Is it cheaper to pay by the hour or by the job?
Mowing and one-off clean-ups are usually quoted by the visit or the job; weeding, borders and hedges by the hour. For anything over a few hours, ask for a job price with the waste removal stated.
Can a gardener spray weedkiller on my drive?
Only if they are registered with the Department of Agriculture as a Professional User and can give you the PU number. Without it, the application is a breach of the regulations.
What should I expect in a tree-surgery quote?
The height and access of the tree, whether the timber and brash are removed or left, stump treatment, insurance details, and who holds the chainsaw certificate. There is no published Irish price; two or three quotes are the only guide.
Sources
- OnlineTradesmen, Garden services price guide (2025), 22 Oct 2025
- OnlineTradesmen, Popular gardening jobs in Ireland summer 2026, 19 Jun 2026
- Airtasker Ireland, Hedge trimming in Dublin
- Airtasker Ireland, Gardening in Dublin
- Bark Ireland, Grass cutting
- Irish Farmers Journal, Know your hedge-cutting costs before the season starts, 22 Jul 2026
- Fingal County Council, New charges at recycling centres
- Dublin City Council, Waste disposal charges increases 2026 (committee report)
- HSA, Chainsaw users urged to put safety first during storm clean-up, 23 Jan 2024
- HSA, Guidance on safe use of chainsaws
- Irish Farmers Journal, Requirements of a professional user, 1 Jun 2016
- Teagasc, How to register as a Professional User
- Agriland, Over 24,000 apply to be professional users of pesticides
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Comments 3
TopNewest
- REAoife M.Customer · Dublin 8EDITOR'S PICK2 h ago
Found a hedgehog under the leaf pile last November exactly as described. Left it. It was gone by March.
- PRMarta R.Provider · Gardener · Lucan1 h ago
The tulip advice is right for here. I plant them the week after the Christmas lights go up and lose far fewer to rot.
- RECiara D.Customer · Cork40 min ago
Did not know the council charged for green waste. Explains the price on the last quote.
Signed-in Locufy customers and providers only. Comments close 30 days after publication. Report anything that names a person unfairly — we act on every report.
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