Blackburn North is mid-century family homes on decent blocks, with gardens that have been growing for sixty-odd years. When they get a proper cut-back, the pile is big.
Not a franchisee or a truck driver from a booking system. The bloke who quotes it is the bloke who loads it.
No bags to fill, no skip to load. Leave it in a pile and he loads it, sweeps up and takes it away.
Not a bin size. A heap beside the driveway and one at the bottom of a steep yard are different jobs and get different prices.
Standing tree, asbestos, or more rubbish than garden — he tells you before he starts, not after.
A pruning pile hauled away and a few bags of leaf litter collected is the usual combination on a Blackburn North block.
Piles of prunings, branches, hedge trimmings, leaves and weeds that won't fit in the green bin. Ross backs the trailer in, loads it himself and takes it away to be recycled — you don't lift a thing.
Shrubs, hedges and garden bed cut-backs.
Doing a big garden clean-up — overgrown beds, a back corner nobody has touched in years, a rental between tenants or a property being tidied for sale? Pile it all up and Ross collects the lot in one visit.
Mature gardens reset for new owners.
Fallen limbs, shed bark, leaf litter and dry prunings gathered up from around the house — the fine fuel that matters most in a grassfire or ember attack. Collected and taken away before the Fire Danger Period starts.
Dry leaves and twigs cleared off paths and roofs.
A gum has dropped a limb across the driveway, or a windy night has left the yard covered. Ross collects what's come down and hauls it away. Standing trees and hung-up limbs are an arborist's job — once they've dropped it, Ross can take it away.
Branches from old backyard trees after wind.
Blackburn North is quieter and a little more uniform than Blackburn proper. Most of it was built in the 1950s and 60s, with solid brick and weatherboard homes on regular suburban blocks, established shrubs around the house and mature trees in the back yard.
Many of those gardens are as old as the houses. Camellias and rhododendrons have become small trees, shrubs have merged into hedges, and the big trees drop leaves and sticks across the lawn. A new owner or a long-time resident finally getting on top of it can fill a trailer quickly. Ross takes care of the removal and the disposal.
Walk down most Blackburn North streets and you'll see gardens that were planted when the houses were new: camellias against the house, azaleas along the path, a row of conifers or pittosporum along the side fence, and one or two big trees out the back.
Cutting that back to something manageable is a big job, but it's the most common one here. Ross clears the cut material and takes it away for green waste disposal.
As original owners move on, many Blackburn North homes are bought by families who want to redo the garden. The first step is usually clearing out old plantings to start again.
Once the old plantings are out, Ross can take them away so landscapers or new owners start with a clean slate. Established trees are a different matter — they may need a permit from Whitehorse City Council, and felling is an arborist job.
Most properties here have a single driveway beside the house down to a garage or carport. That usually means the trailer can get close to the back yard, which keeps the job quick.
If the gate is narrow or the carport is in the way, Ross barrows it through. Mention it when you book.
Blackburn North has two busy periods: late autumn when the leaves come down, and spring when people start on the garden again. Book three or four weeks ahead in either season to get a day that suits.
Suburb, roughly how much there is, and what the access is like. A photo saves a lot of back and forth.
Ross comes back with a number. On big or awkward jobs he has a look first rather than guessing.
Loaded by hand, driveway swept, and off for proper green waste disposal.
Ross runs this on his own. He quotes the job, he turns up, he loads the trailer and he takes it away — the same bloke every visit. There is no office in between, no skip company, and no franchise cut coming out of what you pay.
It also means he will tell you when something isn't his job — a standing tree that needs an arborist, or a pile that is more rubbish than garden — rather than taking the money and leaving you with half a problem.
The suburb, roughly how much there is, and how easy it is to get a trailer to it is enough to work with. A photo of the pile gets you a price fastest.
Prefer to talk? Call or text Ross on 0416 030 925. Monday to Saturday, daylight hours — weather permitting.
Get a price on your pile. Takes a minute — Ross reads them himself.
Thanks — that's gone through to Ross. Spring is his busiest time, so if it's close to fire season he may take a day or two.
