How much $ is planting worth?

[Janet Macunovich 32]

K.K. sent us an interesting queston we were mulling over right about the time we launched the weibsite. We'd like to continue it here to hear what $ figures you-all might attach to this kind of help/prize:

 

For a community silent auction, my garden club is donating services for weeding , raking etc

Question to you is: suggestion on amount of hours to donate for one day ( figure 5 volunteers) and really what should we offer ie: planting and weeding and raking? And should we be responsible for carting off the weeds leaves? Never did this before so your input as a landscaper would be super. Thanks ahead. - K.K. -

 

------------------------------

 

Boy, hard to say, K.K., as every one of these donated-services situations is unique. When we've done that we figure what dollar amount is right, based on other things the group is auctioning. So if it looks like a $200 value is the standard, then we figure what we can offer that would be billed at that amount, if we were billing. Since we charge $50 per person per hour for most things, we could have 4 people there for an hour. Some businesses charge $35 per hour per person; I think the last time those of us in the Association of Professional Gardeners talked rates, there was no one below $30 per hour. Some lawn care firms who are looking to keep laborers working longer in an off-season might charge less for the unskilled work like raking (although we consider even raking in and around gardens to require knowledge and care). So if you will have a crew of 5 you could err on the low side and offer two hours working as a $200 value...

 

It's always hard to say. But we hope this helps.

 

Maybe others can tell us what they think of this so far -- since what matters here is PERCEIVED value -- will someone see it as a worthwhile item and bid on it. So we'll post this on our Forum -- the discussion forum of our new website, and see what others might contribute. You can go there and watch for replies (we'll post it in "Tending and Tools"). IF you Create Account (upper right of the forum screen) and become a member (there's no fee) you can also post your own thoughts it you'd like, as well as elect to be automatically notified when anything is added to the topic.

 

----------------------------------

Thank you so very much. I would never have approached this gift from a dollar value. It really does make it a lot easier to decide on hours. Forum sounds great. - K.K. -