Newer estate homes on the open western edge of the city, where the wind comes straight across the plains. Ross clears and removes the green waste around Hillside.
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 Hillside 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.
Prunings and clippings from estate gardens.
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.
First big tidy-up for gardens now 15–25 years old.
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.
Cut grass and dry growth removed near open land.
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 brought down by westerly winds.
Hillside sits on the western fringe of the suburban area, with most of its housing built from the 1990s onwards. The streets are mostly brick family homes on standard estate blocks, and in places the suburb looks out over open, grassy land that stretches away to the west and north.
That openness shapes the gardens. There is not much shelter from the wind, the summers are hot and dry, and grass grows fast in spring before browning off. Gardens here tend to swing between rapid growth and a lot of dry, dead material, and both end up needing green waste disposal.
Strong westerly and north-westerly winds are part of life out here. They snap branches off young and middle-aged trees, flatten shrubs and scatter leaves and debris across yards and driveways.
After a windy spell, Ross can come out, load any branches already on the ground and take away the mess. He does not handle standing trees that look dangerous; that is for an arborist.
Many Hillside gardens were planted when the homes were built and have been maintained at a basic level since. Now the trees along the fence are big, the shrubs have filled out and the garden beds are crowded.
A proper clean-up every year or two keeps them in shape. Ross takes away whatever has been cut back, leaving the yard clear and swept.
Where Hillside homes back onto or face open land, long grass is a bigger concern than in the inner suburbs. When it dries out over summer, it is a grassfire hazard, especially when it is up against fences and sheds.
Cutting the grass in your own yard and clearing away the dry material before the hot weather helps. Ross can take away the cut grass and dry material on the same visit.
Out on the edge of the open grasslands, Hillside gardens dry out quickly once summer arrives. Get the grass cut and book the pickup for October or November, while the growth is still green and easy to handle, rather than waiting until it is dry and the hot north winds have started.
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.
