Cost guide
How much does garden clearance cost?
£150 to £300 covers a small garden clearance, £300 to £600 a medium one, and £600 to £2,000 where a plot has been left badly overgrown. London and the South East add substantially: a medium clearance there is quoted at £380 to £1,200. Two people charge £250 to £450 a day.
Typical prices
Ranges, not quotes. A quote depends on your room.
| Work | Typical UK price |
|---|---|
| Small garden, one van load | £150 to £300 |
| Medium garden, two or three loads | £300 to £600 |
| Garden left unmanaged for several years | £600 to £2,000 |
| Medium garden, London and the South East | £380 to £1,200 |
| Mini skip, 2 to 3 cubic yards | £90 to £150 |
| Shed dismantled and removed | £150 to £500 |
Tipping charges are what a headline price tends to exclude, and published estimates for the same brief run from £100 up to £600 because some cost a two hour tidy while others cost a full strip. Have disposal shown as its own figure and the quotes become comparable.
What moves the price
- Waste volume, charged at £60 to £120 a cubic metre, which dominates every other line on the quote.
- Waste type, because soil, rubble and slabs cost more to tip than green arisings and need upper tier registration.
- Carry distance between the working area and wherever the van or skip is standing.
- Structures such as a shed at £150 to £500 or decking at £200 to £700.
- Root removal instead of cutting back, which is slower but stops regrowth.
Worth knowing
A householder who pays an unregistered carrier to take waste away can be issued a fixed penalty of up to £600, raised from £400 on 31 July 2023.
SI 2023/770, household waste duty of care fixed penalties
Who quotes for it
6 of the 18 gardeners listed on this site take on garden clearance.
Most of them in one place: Shrewsbury (3), Telford (3).
Questions about garden clearance
Can they take it to the council tip?
Not without paying. Waste from paid work counts as commercial even though it came out of a domestic garden, and household recycling centres turn it away. Firms tip at commercial transfer stations and pay a gate fee, which sits inside the price quoted to you.
Will the brambles come back?
Yes, if only the growth above ground is cut. Crowns and root runs regrow within a single season. Either dig them out during the clearance or budget for a follow up treatment in autumn, when the plant is drawing sugars down into the root.