How Much Does Garden Clearance Cost in the UK?

What Affects the Cost of Garden Clearance

Garden size

This is the most obvious factor. A 50 square metre courtyard garden takes a few hours to clear. A 500 square metre plot can take a small team three full days. We price by the area plus the labour and waste, but as a rough guide a small team can clear about 100 square metres of moderately overgrown garden per day.

Level of overgrowth

A light tidy where we mow, edge and prune is much quicker than clearing a jungle of brambles and self-seeded sycamores. Heavy bramble coverage can take four times as long as light overgrowth for the same area. Ivy climbing into trees and along fences is particularly time consuming because every strand has to be cut and pulled.

Waste volume and disposal

Green waste disposal in the UK is regulated. We have to use a licensed commercial tip, and we pay per tonne. A typical clearance of an overgrown back garden produces 1 to 3 tonnes of waste. Larger jobs can produce 6 tonnes or more. Disposal alone can add 150 to 600 to the bill.

If you have a council green waste bin and the clearance is light, we can sometimes leave waste in the bin for weekly collection. This saves the disposal cost but takes weeks to clear all the waste.

Access to the garden

If we can get a wheelbarrow from the front of the house to the back garden in a straight line, clearance is quick. If we have to carry waste through the house, up steps, or through a narrow side passage, the work takes much longer. Houses with poor access often cost 20 to 40 percent more.

What needs removing

Different elements have different labour profiles:

• Brambles and ivy: slow to cut, slow to bag, painful to handle
• Old sheds and outbuildings: demolition plus wood disposal
• Small trees and large shrubs: cutting plus stump treatment
• Patio and paving removal: heavy work, hard waste to dispose of
• Soil and rubble: classified as inert waste, cheaper to dispose of than green waste

Hidden Costs to Watch For

Asbestos in old sheds and garages

Old concrete sheds, particularly those built between 1940 and 1980, often have asbestos cement roofs. This has to be removed and disposed of separately by a specialist contractor. If we spot asbestos during a clearance we stop work and bring in a licensed asbestos contractor. Budget 300 to 800 for a small asbestos garage roof.

Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas

If your property is in a conservation area or has trees with a Tree Preservation Order, you need council permission before removing trees or even doing major pruning. Permission takes 6 weeks and is free, but doing the work without permission can lead to fines up to 20,000 pounds. Check with your local council first.

How to Get the Best Price

Send photos first

Any reputable clearance company will want to see photos before quoting. We ask for photos from every angle and a quick measurement or estimate of garden size. This lets us give you a realistic price range before we visit. Without photos, we have to add a contingency and you pay more.

Send us photos on WhatsApp for a same-day estimate.

Book in the right season

January and February are the quiet months for garden clearance companies. We have more availability and our prices can be slightly keener than in peak spring. If your clearance is not urgent, booking in late winter can save 10 to 15 percent.

Be clear about what you want

Do you want a tidy up that keeps the existing layout, or a full clearance ready for landscaping? The difference in cost can be enormous. The more specific you can be, the more accurate your quote will be.

Ask about waste

If you have space for a skip or a hippobag, you can save on labour time. We can fill a skip in a few hours instead of making multiple trips to the tip. A 6 yard skip costs about 250 including delivery and collection, and saves us several hours of driving.

What Is Included in Our Garden Clearance

Our standard clearance includes:

• Cutting back all overgrowth to ground level
• Removal of brambles, ivy and self-seeded weeds
• Pruning of shrubs to a manageable size
• Digging out invasive roots where requested
• Removal of all green waste
• Sweeping and basic tidy of hard surfaces

We can also include shed demolition, small tree removal, patio lift and stump grinding as add-ons. Each is priced separately so you only pay for what you need.

What Garden Clearance Does Not Include

It is just as important to know what is not in the standard clearance. We do not include:

• Replanting or new landscaping (quoted separately)
• Hard landscaping like new patios or paths
• Tree surgery on trees over 5 metres (specialist required)
• Removal of (specialist contractor required by law)
• Removal of asbestos (specialist contractor required)

is a particular issue in our area. It is classified as controlled waste and can only be disposed of at licensed facilities. If you suspect you have , contact a specialist. Doing the work yourself is illegal and can spread the plant.

Try Our Clearance Calculator

We have built a quick clearance calculator that gives you an estimate range based on garden size, overgrowth level and waste volume. It takes about 2 minutes to fill in. The answer is a wide range, deliberately, because we cannot give an exact price without seeing the garden.

Use the clearance calculator

Final Thoughts

Garden clearance is one of those jobs that is almost always cheaper and faster than people expect when done by a professional team with the right equipment. Doing it yourself is possible for small jobs but the waste disposal, the physical effort and the time often make it more expensive in real terms than hiring someone.

If you have a garden that needs clearing, the best first step is a few photos and a quick WhatsApp message. We can tell you within 12 to 36 hours, Monday to Sunday whether your budget is realistic and what we can do for it.

Get a written quote

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a fixed price for garden clearance?

Yes, after a site visit. Our initial estimate is a range, but once we have seen the garden we give a fixed price that we stick to. If we find something unexpected like asbestos or hidden rubbish, we stop and discuss before adding to the bill.

How long does a garden clearance take?

A small back garden takes half a day. A typical family garden takes 1 to 2 days with a 2-person crew. A large overgrown plot can take 3 to 5 days. We always work in teams of 2 or 3 to keep the job moving.

Do you take away everything?

Yes, including green waste, soil, rubble, old fencing, sheds and small trees. We leave the garden clean and tidy. The only things we cannot take are asbestos and hazardous chemicals.

What areas do you cover?

We cover the whole of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. See our location pages for town-specific information.

Sources and citations

This article draws on the following sources. Specific claims are cited inline where relevant.

1. CGM field records (2025-12. Site observations from gardens across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Bedfordshire.
2. Royal Horticultural Society (2024). RHS Gardening Advice and Plant Finder. Available at rhs.org.uk.
3. Met Office (2024). Regional climate averages, South East England. Available at metoffice.gov.uk.
4. British Geological Survey (2024). Soil parent material data for the Chilterns and Thames Valley. Available at bgs.ac.uk.