
There are several ways to pay gardeners in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area, depending on the size of the property and other factors.
For example, I have some clients who pay their gardeners 200 pesos (about US $12) a week for coming for one day a week for a couple of hours. Other people will pay them 600 pesos (around US $35) for the same work.
Many times, the term “gardener” is a catchall phrase for a guy that comes and helps you out with everything that’s in your yard, which might be repairing cement work, cleaning your swimming pool, cutting the grass, pulling the weeds, doing painting, etc., so a lot of the gardeners are multi-taskers.
Based on what they do, they can make 1,000 pesos (about US $59) a week. Other times, if you have a smaller yard, no pool, and it’s a condo, you may pay them anywhere from 30 to 70 pesos (about US $2 to $4) an hour with the average more towards 30 to 50 pesos (about US $2 to $3) an hour and they might just get paid for the time they work.
I have double experience as far as maids, gardeners, hours and duties because I do a lot of labor liquidations when people sell houses so I have to ask how many hours the person worked, when did they start, what the person did, etc.
(Garden in Chapala, Mexico, pictured.)