What would you pay to have kids rake your front yard? DD wants to know

[JustEm]

They will bag the leaves. Thanks

[Drama Llama]

I think it depends on the size of the yard.  How many hours do you estimate? 

[Miss Tick]

I don't pay anything if it is my dc helping to rake my yard. If some other dc came by I would be willing to pay $20 for a solid hour of work. It will take many solid hours to clear our yard. Boo hoo. I don't like this task.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

We have lots of trees, our neighbor has lots of trees...all of the leaves end up in our yard. We usually rake up about 15 yard waste bags in the fall. I would pay either $5 per bag or $20 an hour. We use a lawn mower and leaf blower, along with the rakes, to make the task go quicker.

[Drama Llama]

I agree with $20/hour.  But I would negotiate by task not by hour, because kids work at different paces.  So if I thought it was a 4 hour job I’d offer $80.  If kid worked straight through and finished in 3.5 or stopped and was on their phone and took 6?  Still $80.

[HS Mom in NC]

If you're getting rid of them because you think you should, I'm pointing out that you don't have to and your trees are much better off if you don't.  Fallen leaves are customized fertilizer for trees, so I wouldn't get rid of them, much less pay someone to get rid of them. I'd be thrilled if other people's leaves blew into my yard and fertilized my lawn, gardens, and trees.
 
If you prefer to get rid of them for some other reason, then I think a fixed price makes sense, because, as stated upthread, work paces vary from person to person and knowing exactly how much a person is getting paid for the whole job is more appealing to most workers in that kind of situation.

[Drama Llama]

2 minutes ago, HS Mom in NC said:

If you're getting rid of them because you think you should, I'm pointing out that you don't have to and your trees are much better off if you don't.  Fallen leaves are customized fertilizer for trees, so I wouldn't get rid of them, much less pay someone to get rid of them. I'd be thrilled if other people's leaves blew into my yard and fertilized my lawn, gardens, and trees.
 
If you prefer to get rid of them for some other reason, then I think a fixed price makes sense, because, as stated upthread, work paces vary from person to person and knowing exactly how much a person is getting paid for the whole job is more appealing to most workers in that kind of situation.

I think this makes sense to a degree.  We live in a semi-urban area with lots of beautiful mature trees.  If we didn’t rake we’d have leaves up to our knees, killing the grass and harboring rats. So, we mow some into the lawn, and mow and bag some to move them to flower beds, but there is still more left.  There are places that will take the bagged leaves for compost.  

We have a family member who has a new build house on a much larger property.  Not only can they easily accommodate all the leaves they get mulched into their lawn, we bring them bags of mulched leaves for their garden as they don’t have enough!  

It just depends.

[vonfirmath]

We pay $40 to mow our entire lawn (Front and back)

Split up that is $10 to mow and $10 to edge the front.

 

So I'd probably pay between $5 and $10 to rake up leaves in the front lawn.

[Faith-manor]

I would pay by the hours and since it is hard work, I would pay a young teen $12-15 an hour, and probably leave milk and cookies on the back step. Now that said, it is better for the environment if you don't do it. Leaves falling, deteriorating, composting down naturally are a vital part of ecological health. Grass lawn is not good. So if it kills off your grass and it takes longer to come back in the spring, that is actually beneficial.

 

Right now we have a patch of leaves 2 inches deep and 30*50 ft in just one part of our back yard, and those leaves are not getting raked. Nope nope. I will admit that I get tired of them being tracked in on shoes.

[GailV]

3 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I would pay by the hours and since it is hard work, I would pay a young teen $12-15 an hour, and probably leave milk and cookies on the back step. Now that said, it is better for the environment if you don't do it. Leaves falling, deteriorating, composting down naturally are a vital part of ecological health. Grass lawn is not good. So if it kills off your grass and it takes longer to come back in the spring, that is actually beneficial.

 

Right now we have a patch of leaves 2 inches deep and 30*50 ft in just one part of our back yard, and those leaves are not getting raked. Nope nope. I will admit that I get tired of them being tracked in on shoes.

Can you come and live next to me? Because the neighbors are all into the immaculately-raked-and-mown, let's-use-lotsa-chemicals-to-make-sure-it's-only-grass lawn style.  And I'm over here letting life happen ... which means every critter comes to my yard and eats all of my plants that I *do* happen to want growing. They even manage to remove the cloches I put on the herbs. I'm starting to think they're all in cahoots -- the moles rumble up from below, the deer tromp through knocking things over.

Having said all of that, I've had leaves literally up to my knees. I also have a neighbor who will call authorities over any imagined transgression (notwithstanding that the prevailing winds blow her leaves into my yard). So some leaves get mulched down, some get relocated to various beds, some get bagged and taken away.

I would pay extra for not using a leaf blower.  I despise the noise of leaf blowers. Probably $15/hour bagged.

[Pawz4me]

Depends on how old  your DD is (how fast/efficiently she can work) and what type of equipment is being used (i.e., basic leaf rake/hand bagging versus a blower, leaf mulcher, etc.). I'd tend to pay by the bag rather than by the hour, but I'd probably try to figure out a rate that would work out to about $10-$12/hour for steady work.

We have to get up our leaves. We have a ton of huge trees. We have a mulcher that does a 10:1 reduction, and we still get dozens of bags a year. If they were left the leaves would interfere with proper drainage of our property, plus the leaves that would still be remaining in the spring--because that many leaves do not decompose in a measly few months--make excellent coverage for snakes, and the last thing we or our dogs need is to be bitten by a copperhead. These things vastly outweigh the fertilizer benefit, although we do take a few mulched bags and spread on our grass, plus a keep a bag or two to use in the compost bin throughout the winter.

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Pawz4me

[HS Mom in NC]

17 minutes ago, Baseballandhockey said:

I think this makes sense to a degree.  We live in a semi-urban area with lots of beautiful mature trees.  If we didn’t rake we’d have leaves up to our knees, killing the grass and harboring rats. So, we mow some into the lawn, and mow and bag some to move them to flower beds, but there is still more left.  There are places that will take the bagged leaves for compost.  

We have a family member who has a new build house on a much larger property.  Not only can they easily accommodate all the leaves they get mulched into their lawn, we bring them bags of mulched leaves for their garden as they don’t have enough!  

It just depends.

Yeah, there are multiple factors that go into deciding, but most Americans aren't aware that leaves are fertilizer for their trees.  They hate raking leaves and some are thrilled to know there are good reasons not do it at all. We spent this weekend raking and taking leaves for neighbors who prefer the aesthetics of raked leaves.  If they're going to rake them and burn them anyway, we rake and take the leaves, put them through our leaf shredder, then put them in our permaculture garden and front flowerbeds as high nutrient mulch. Shredded leaves reduce down to about 10-15ish% of their unshredded size. Lawnmowers can do the same thing, but we have a lawnbot that's only for maintaining an already cut lawn and we have other garden priorities this year, so a shredder works in our situation.

Also, shredded/mown leaves mixed with shredded/mown grass (in places where it isn't dormant yet) makes for primo hot composting which is good for composting plants with seeds. Letting that sit and kept damp through winter makes great compost for spring or summer depending on conditions.

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, GailV said:

Can you come and live next to me? Because the neighbors are all into the immaculately-raked-and-mown, let's-use-lotsa-chemicals-to-make-sure-it's-only-grass lawn style.  And I'm over here letting life happen ... which means every critter comes to my yard and eats all of my plants that I *do* happen to want growing. They even manage to remove the cloches I put on the herbs. I'm starting to think they're all in cahoots -- the moles rumble up from below, the deer tromp through knocking things over.

Having said all of that, I've had leaves literally up to my knees. I also have a neighbor who will call authorities over any imagined transgression (notwithstanding that the prevailing winds blow her leaves into my yard). So some leaves get mulched down, some get relocated to various beds, some get bagged and taken away.

I would pay extra for not using a leaf blower.  I despise the noise of leaf blowers. Probably $15/hour bagged.

Moles are the bane of my existence. We have an indoor cat that will hunt them if we let her out so we do that. Occasionally we have baited. I don't like it, but on the other hand I like my vegetables and herbs too so something has to give stupid rodents!!!

[Faith-manor]

Just now, HS Mom in NC said:

Yeah, there are multiple factors that go into deciding, but most Americans aren't aware that leaves are fertilizer for their trees.  They hate raking leaves and some are thrilled to know there are good reasons not do it at all. We spent this weekend raking and taking leaves for neighbors who prefer the aesthetics of raked leaves.  If they're going to rake them and burn them anyway, we rake and take the leaves, put them through our leaf shredder, then put them in our permaculture garden and front flowerbeds as high nutrient mulch. Shredded leaves reduce down to about 10-15ish% of their unshredded size. Lawnmowers can do the same thing, but we have a lawnbot that's only for maintaining an already cut lawn and we have other garden priorities this year, so a shredder works in our situation.

Also, shredded/mown leaves mixed with shredded/mown grass (in places where it isn't dormant yet) makes for primo hot composting which is good for composting plants with seeds. Letting that sit and kept damp through winter makes great compost for spring or summer depending on conditions.

Yes, we have been known to mow them if they get too thick. It really helps get them to compost down. But raking and bagging just doesn't happen here. And we only mow when it gets beyond a certain depth and needs the help. I do sometimes pick some up and mulch around our fruit trees. I just try hard not to hurt our maples by not letting enough of them naturally compost around them. We have about six, gorgeous sugar maples.

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, HS Mom in NC said:

If you're getting rid of them because you think you should, I'm pointing out that you don't have to and your trees are much better off if you don't.  Fallen leaves are customized fertilizer for trees, so I wouldn't get rid of them, much less pay someone to get rid of them. I'd be thrilled if other people's leaves blew into my yard and fertilized my lawn, gardens, and trees.
 
If you prefer to get rid of them for some other reason, then I think a fixed price makes sense, because, as stated upthread, work paces vary from person to person and knowing exactly how much a person is getting paid for the whole job is more appealing to most workers in that kind of situation.

Oh this isn't for our yard.  I let my leaves feed my soil exactly where they land.  But most of our neighbors do like having leafless yards and my dd is wanting to go door to door offering to rake. 

[JustEm]

my dd thanks you all. 

[Elizabeth86]

2 hours ago, HS Mom in NC said:

If you're getting rid of them because you think you should, I'm pointing out that you don't have to and your trees are much better off if you don't.  Fallen leaves are customized fertilizer for trees, so I wouldn't get rid of them, much less pay someone to get rid of them. I'd be thrilled if other people's leaves blew into my yard and fertilized my lawn, gardens, and trees.
 
If you prefer to get rid of them for some other reason, then I think a fixed price makes sense, because, as stated upthread, work paces vary from person to person and knowing exactly how much a person is getting paid for the whole job is more appealing to most workers in that kind of situation.

Yes!! We rake leaves just to jump in play with them and just scatter them back out and leave them. 😂

[NewIma]

For our yard we pay the kids 3 dollars a bag.

[MEmama]

2 hours ago, HS Mom in NC said:

Yeah, there are multiple factors that go into deciding, but most Americans aren't aware that leaves are fertilizer for their trees.  They hate raking leaves and some are thrilled to know there are good reasons not do it at all. We spent this weekend raking and taking leaves for neighbors who prefer the aesthetics of raked leaves.  If they're going to rake them and burn them anyway, we rake and take the leaves, put them through our leaf shredder, then put them in our permaculture garden and front flowerbeds as high nutrient mulch. Shredded leaves reduce down to about 10-15ish% of their unshredded size. Lawnmowers can do the same thing, but we have a lawnbot that's only for maintaining an already cut lawn and we have other garden priorities this year, so a shredder works in our situation.

Also, shredded/mown leaves mixed with shredded/mown grass (in places where it isn't dormant yet) makes for primo hot composting which is good for composting plants with seeds. Letting that sit and kept damp through winter makes great compost for spring or summer depending on conditions.

Depending very much on local conditions. Here, if I left all the leaves on my lawn and in my garden beds over winter, I would be faced with thick, frozen solid masses of intact leaves that wouldn’t thaw out until May. Underneath would be dead bulbs and plants because they wouldn’t have access to any sunlight and would literally be smothered. Plus, I’d have just clean the whole mess up after it finally thawed out.

I get the argument and I’m sure it works in some places and with the right types of leaves, but it definitely doesn’t work everywhere. 

[Catwoman]

For those of you who don't rake your leaves... do all of your neighbors hate you? 😉 

Also, I'm assuming you don't live in HOA neighborhoods, right?

[Faith-manor]

25 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

For those of you who don't rake your leaves... do all of your neighbors hate you? 😉 

Also, I'm assuming you don't live in HOA neighborhoods, right?

No HOA, and in an unincorporated town so unless the township passes an ordinance, nothing can be done. Years ago one neighbor got snarky about it, and Mark said, "When you clean up the five junk cars in your yard, I will clean up my leaves." And that was the end of it!

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Catwoman said:

For those of you who don't rake your leaves... do all of your neighbors hate you? 😉 

Also, I'm assuming you don't live in HOA neighborhoods, right?

No HOA. Why would neighbors hate me? All the leaves come from their trees so if it bothered them that much I guess I'd allow them to do something with them for me.

But do people really not like leaves in other people's yards?

[Pawz4me]

1 hour ago, Catwoman said:

For those of you who don't rake your leaves... do all of your neighbors hate you? 😉 

Also, I'm assuming you don't live in HOA neighborhoods, right?

We get (most of) our leaves up, but . . no, no HOA here. BTDT once. Didn't absolutely hate it but didn't want to do it again.

Honestly, it would never, ever have occurred to me to hate on/blame a neighbor because of leaves. I mean . . leaves are gonna blow. Mother Nature happens. The first time I heard someone express anger at a neighbor for not getting up leaves it truly shocked me and I had no idea how to react. It was just so far off from my way of thinking.

[Catwoman]

28 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

No HOA. Why would neighbors hate me? All the leaves come from their trees so if it bothered them that much I guess I'd allow them to do something with them for me.

But do people really not like leaves in other people's yards?

 

22 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

We get (most of) our leaves up, but . . no, no HOA here. BTDT once. Didn't absolutely hate it but didn't want to do it again.

Honestly, it would never, ever have occurred to me to hate on/blame a neighbor because of leaves. I mean . . leaves are gonna blow. Mother Nature happens. The first time I heard someone express anger at a neighbor for not getting up leaves it truly shocked me and I had no idea how to react. It was just so far off from my way of thinking.

It would absolutely be a problem in all three of the neighborhoods where we live, and only one has an HOA. People are very particular about their yards, and good landscaping services aren't cheap, so neighbors wouldn't be excited about having their fall cleanup done, only to have to get it done again because their neighbors didn't bother to have their leaves removed and the neighbor's leaves ended up in their yards.

[JustEm]

6 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

 

It would absolutely be a problem in all three of the neighborhoods where we live, and only one has an HOA. People are very particular about their yards, and good landscaping services aren't cheap, so neighbors wouldn't be excited about having their fall cleanup done, only to have to get it done again because their neighbors didn't bother to have their leaves removed and the neighbor's leaves ended up in their yards.

gotcha.  well maybe my neighbors care but no one has ever complained but if they did the leaves are literally theirs because I have no trees in my yard. 

I've always wondered though if it is exhausting being a person who cares about things like that. I have one neighbor who is always upset about something in the neighborhood that to me just seem like non-issues.  Just thinking about her makes me tired.

[KungFuPanda]

Room and board. 🤣

[Farrar]

$5? My front yard is the size of a small living room. It would take 20 minutes tops and probably a good bit less.

But I'd probably pay $10-15 per hour. I don't consider that especially hard labor. I'd bump it up if there was proper yardwork.

[kbutton]

About $10-12/hour, which is about what my son gets paid for yardwork for someone else, and what he gets paid for his seasonal job at a retailer. He is an excellent worker.

I don't pay people what it costs to hire a professional because most (especially kids) aren't going to do the job as well or as efficiently as a professional. We paid a skilled and fairly experienced adult (but not a professional in that field) the going rate once for a big job and got burned. Worse, he justified a lot of personal choices that were costly out loud to us (think making semi-$$ supplies into disposable products when it was completely unnecessary), so we had the agony of hearing why what we paid ended up being so expensive. I don't need to be someone's learning project or guinea pig for the same amount it would take a pro who can do it faster, smoother, better.

14 hours ago, HS Mom in NC said:

Also, shredded/mown leaves mixed with shredded/mown grass (in places where it isn't dormant yet) makes for primo hot composting which is good for composting plants with seeds. Letting that sit and kept damp through winter makes great compost for spring or summer depending on conditions.

I didn't realize this combination composted on the hot side. I will have to remember that. 

8 hours ago, hjffkj said:

But do people really not like leaves in other people's yards?

I don't much care for having oak leaves in my yard. They take forever to break down--generally even people who like to compost their leaves will shun oak leaves. I also don't like leaves blowing up against any fenced in areas (usually a neighbor's fence that we didn't ask for). They pile up and kill plants or leave big dead patches.

Sometimes trees that drop leaves late are annoying because it's already cold, wet, and nasty and you thought you were already finished...then, the one neighbor that doesn't rake is sending you leaves, and it's your luck they're oaks, and they are piling up against the fence, lol! 🤣

We compost our leaves or mulch them into the grass depending on which part of the yard (some trees have far more leaves than others) and on whether or not they fall in large batches or a little at a time. If we had the time, I'd love to get more from neighbors.

We also make little enclosures for our fig trees for the winter and fill those up with leaves for insulation. 

[cougarmom4]

We typically wait until the wind blows them down the street into our neighbor’s yard. But we have guests coming this weekend and just moments before I saw this post I was contemplating which neighbor kids I could rope into bagging ours in exchange for a donut. 

[Starr]

Right now, whatever they ask! 

[HS Mom in NC]

8 hours ago, kbutton said:

I didn't realize this combination composted on the hot side. I will have to remember that. 

You've got to have ratios, moisture, airflow, and height right, but yes, it can be hot composted.