Garden Clearance – Edinburgh


Tidy your garden before the Gnome Revolution!


Garden Clearance service in Edinburgh

Book a quote for a Garden Clearance from an accredited Edinburgh Gardener.  HomeForce provides thoroughly vetted, continuously appraised gardeners who have a proven reliability record. Call us on 0131 315 0000 email info@homeforce.co.uk or complete the form on this page.

Read on to find out potential costs, the best time of year to do a major garden tidy, why – beyond your own enjoyment – you might want a garden clearance and some tips if you are thinking of doing your own garden tidy.

When should I arrange my Garden Clearance?

We all love to make the most of our garden in the summer, but tend to forget about it at other times of the year. Warmer days and longer evenings draw you outside. Left untended though, the neat flower beds and flat lawn cultivated last year will be a jungle by June.

If you haven’t the time, tools or energy to tackle a garden tidy yourself then the best time to contact a gardener is early March to mid April. That’s because come May and June most gardeners will have their work all mapped out for the summer. They won’t have time to fit you in.

The next best time, in our opinion, is the start of October to mid November. This is because gardeners schedules are starting to free up and the weather is usually still benevolent enough to allow out door work.

Read on to find out the best time of year to actually do a garden tidy.

When is the best time for a garden clearance in Edinburgh?

In an ideal world, probably two-thirds of the clearance work should be done in spring and one-third in autumn. When that’s not possible the the following should offer some guidance:

Spring
Many professionals recommend a good garden clearance in spring. The insects that use seed pods for winter protection have moved out, so you won’t harm them. Plants have been able to reseed and the birds have more food available from plants. Also, by leaving vegetation over the winter you give plant roots a natural insulating blanket.

Summer
Summer is generally the least suitable time for a major garden clearance. More growth means more work, which is doubly harder when it’s hot, and the increase in insect numbers causes an annoyance. Blooms and flourishing greenery can also be damaged and take a long time to recover.

Autumn
Some plants are sensitive and don’t like being disturbed in the autumn. You may also clear away much of the seeds and other food that animals and birds need to survive the winter. However, if you don’t deal with fallen leaves, they’ll get soggy and horrible over the winter, possibly smothering any lawn you have. Autumn is also a time to protect plants that are sensitive to frost.

Why should I embark on a garden clearance?

Apart from the obvious benefit of enjoying a tidy garden there are a couple of other good reasons for keeping it under control.

1) Litter & vermin

We all know that Edinburgh can be a breezy place. Airborne rubbish loves nothing better than to tangle itself in an overgrown garden. A concentration of mouldering vegetation and tatty rubbish means one thing: vermin, and no one likes Vermin.

2) Neighbour annoyance

Neighbours do have the right to ask the council to intervene if gardens get particularly overgrown. If your garden is overgrowing next-door’s fence then your neighbour can cut the vegetation back – curiously, though, they have to offer you the clippings! Far better not to get to that point, and keep your garden tidy and neighbours happy.

3) Cost

An uncared for garden isn’t a problem that will go away – Mother Nature will guarantee that! The longer it is left the more work (and so cost) it will take to get it back to a presentable state. It’s far cheaper to regularly maintain a garden than it is to blitz it once a year.

If your garden is in a state this spring, it’s going to be twice as bad by the time summer arrives. Take action now and you could have a lovely outdoor living space when our splendid Scottish summer arrives!

Thinking of selling or renting out your property?

A garden clearance can be money well spent if you’re planing to rent out or sell your property. An unkempt garden gives a negative impression that can detract seriously from its value (either to rent out or buy).

Buyers or renters looking at two similar properties at similar prices would always choose the one with the neater garden. Why risk losing out?

What does a garden clearance in Edinburgh cost?

As you’d expect this is an almost impossible question to answer to cover every eventuality.

In the past 12 months HomeForce accredited Gardeners have carried out garden tidies that cost as little as £60 and as much as £1,850. Those costs have included the manual labour and debris disposal.

An average garden tidy for a garden that has been left untended for a season of growing will cost around £500 to £600 to get it back to a useable state. Of course that depends on the size of garden, how much of it is paved, what plants have grown etc.

When you do the sums it does actually work out cheaper to employ a regular gardener to keep a garden tidy all year round rather than blitzing it two or three times a year.

DIY garden clearance

Those happy to teach the garden who’s boss themselves may find it’s harder work than a professional gardener makes it appear. It’s also worth keeping in mind that:

  • Debris needs to be disposed of in brown council bins or properly disposed of (for example at a recycling centre). It is an offence – though not well policed – to just dump it over the fence.
  • Be aware when taking trees down or cutting them back significantly that they may be protected by a preservation order. Legislation protecting trees was introduced in 1947 and has done wonders to prevent the wanton destruction of valuable trees. But it can also get in the way of your gardening – particularly if you’re in one of Edinburgh’s heritage areas.

Arrange for Garden Clearance quote: