Gardener

See also: Gardening and Gardening (The Sims 3)

Gardener in Sims 2.

A gardener watering flowers in The Sims

The gardener is an NPC that can be hired in The Sims and The Sims 2 to take care of a family's plants. They can be pricey, but they leave your Sims free to do other things.

In The Sims, the gardener will come every three days, will care for both indoor and outdoor plants, and charges 10 simoleons per hour. If she arrives and finds that there is nothing for her to do, she will charge for one hour. She will leave if she encounters a plant she can't get to, or if her route is blocked for too long.

In The Sims 2, the gardener will come three times a week, and charges 5 simoleons per visit plus 10 simoleons per hour. The gardener may not charge if no plants need tending, but will quit if there are no plants to tend. He or she will check on Money Trees, but otherwise will only care for outdoor plants, as it appears that ordinary indoor plants in The Sims 2 don't need to be watered or tended. However, tending outdoor plants in The Sims 2 involves more than watering flowers. If bushes or hedges are present, they will occasionally need to be trimmed, and weeds will need to be pulled.

If Seasons is installed, the gardener will rake leaves and dispose of them, but will not dispose of dead plants. If a compost bin is present, and has empty space, he or she will place raked leaves in the bin. If there is no compost bin or the bin is full, the gardener may dispose of leaves in a trash compactor or indoor garbage can, rather than use the outside garbage can. The gardener will also care for orchard trees and garden plants, should they need it while he or she is there. A gardener will usually, but not always, have a Bronze talent badge in gardening.

In both The Sims and The Sims 2, the gardener will disappear from the telephone's Services menu once he or she has been hired.

There is no gardener NPC in The Sims 3 base game as the plants from build mode do not need to be maintained.