Direct answer
Garden clearance cost in London isn't set by a fixed rate card - it's driven by how big and how overgrown the garden is, how hard it is to get waste out of it (a clear side gate versus carrying everything back through the house), whether the load is mostly green waste or a heavier mix of shed contents, old furniture, soil, rubble and decking, and how urgent the timing is. Green waste - cuttings, branches, leaves, turf - is treated and priced differently from soil, rubble and demolished structures, since they aren't the same type of waste. houseclearance.co publishes indicative ranges on /prices/ that every page on this site reuses - green garden waste is typically £140–£220 per tonne, while mixed garden waste with heavier items is usually priced by van-load fraction (see the tables below). You still describe the job once - garden size, rough mix of waste, access notes and preferred date - and a licensed carrier quotes the real price against the actual scope.
Contents
- What drives the cost of a garden clearance
- Green waste vs soil, rubble and structures
- Labour and access: what changes the price
- Common job scenarios and what to confirm
- Garden clearance vs skip hire for green waste
- Preparing for a garden clearance
- How garden size and overgrowth change the job
- Timing and seasonal demand
- The legal background: waste carrier licensing and duty of care
- Frequently asked questions
What drives the cost of a garden clearance
The same handful of factors, checked on every job - see how pricing works across houseclearance.co.
Carriers quoting on a garden clearance job are assessing the same things every time, even though the final number always comes from a real quote rather than a published rate. The more clearly you describe each of these in your job post, the less likely the price is to move once the carrier actually sees the garden.
| Factor | What carriers are assessing |
|---|---|
| Garden size and overgrowth | How large the plot is, and whether it's been maintained regularly or left untouched for one or more seasons. |
| Access | A clear side gate with a direct path to the road versus a narrow passage, steps, or no side access at all, meaning everything has to go back through the house. |
| Green waste vs mixed waste | Straightforward cuttings, leaves and hedge trimmings versus a heavier mix including shed contents, old furniture, fence panels, decking, soil or rubble. |
| Crew size and time needed | How many operatives and how long the job takes, which scales with volume, overgrowth and how awkward the access is. |
| Disposal and licensing requirements | Whether material can go straight to green-waste recycling or needs sorting into separate wood, metal, rubble and general waste streams first. |
| Timing and urgency | Same-day or next-day requests, weekend work, and seasonal demand spikes such as autumn leaf-fall all affect which carriers can take the job. |
Item type matters beyond simple volume. A garden clearance that also includes a shed or garage clearance brings in a wider mix of material - old paint tins, scrap metal, timber offcuts - that needs separating before disposal, and bulky furniture and bulky items such as a heavy patio table or a collapsing bench sometimes need dismantling on site before they can be carried out, both worth flagging in your job post rather than folding into a generic "garden waste" line.
Indicative price for green waste, by weight
| Material type | Unit | Indicative London price range |
|---|---|---|
| Green garden waste (branches, trimmings, turf) | Per tonne / volume | £140 – £220 |
Indicative price for mixed garden clearance, by van load
| Van load equivalent | Indicative London price range |
|---|---|
| 1/4 van load | £145 – £195 |
| 1/2 van load | £275 – £345 |
| Full van load | £575 – £695 |
Full tables published on houseclearance.co/prices - the same figures every page on this site uses.
Green waste vs soil, rubble and structures
Not everything that comes out of a garden counts as green waste.
"Garden waste" and "green waste" aren't quite the same thing as "everything currently in the garden." Green waste means organic material that grew there - grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, leaves, branches and turf. Soil, rubble, broken paving slabs and demolished structures such as an old shed base, fence post footings or a collapsed raised bed wall are a different category of waste entirely, even though they're being cleared from the same garden on the same visit. That distinction is why houseclearance.co publishes green waste and dense/structural waste as separate rows on /prices/ rather than one blended garden rate.
| Waste category | Examples | How it's typically priced |
|---|---|---|
| Green waste | Grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, leaves, small branches, lifted turf | Per tonne / volume - see the green waste table above |
| Mixed garden items | Old garden furniture, a broken greenhouse panel, general shed contents | By van-load fraction - see the van-load table above |
| Soil and rubble | Loose soil, clay, broken paving, rubble from a dismantled path or base | By weight, as dense/heavy waste rather than by volume |
| Structures and fixed items | Fence panels, old decking, a dismantled shed frame, a collapsed wall | Factored into the quote once a carrier can see how much dismantling is involved |
In practice this means a job that's mostly cuttings and leaves is usually quoted differently from a job where a significant share of the volume is soil, rubble or structural material, even if both start from the same size garden. Flagging the rough split between green waste and heavier material in your job post - "mostly hedge trimmings" versus "half rubble from an old patio" - helps a carrier quote accurately against the actual mix rather than a generic "garden clearance" line.
Labour and access: what changes the price
The waste itself is only part of the job - getting to it and getting it out matters just as much.
Two gardens with an identical pile of waste can still carry different quotes once labour and access are factored in. Labour covers the time a crew spends cutting back, digging out, carrying and loading material, which scales with how overgrown the plot is and how much needs dismantling rather than simply lifting. Access covers how material physically gets from the garden to the vehicle - a clear side gate with a direct path to the road is a faster job than a narrow passage, steps down to a lower level, or no side access at all, where everything has to be carried back through the house.
The same general access factors used across houseclearance.co apply here: carriers typically add a labour allowance of roughly £30–£60 per flight where material has to be carried up or down stairs rather than moved at ground level, and if a vehicle needs to park on a yellow line, red route or inside a controlled parking zone, a council parking suspension (commonly in the £35–£90 per day range, depending on the borough) may need to be arranged or factored into the quote. Where a job also involves demolishing a structure - a shed, a fence line, a section of decking - the extra dismantling time is additional labour on top of the waste removal itself, so it's worth describing that separately from "clearance" in your job post.
Common job scenarios and what to confirm
Four typical ways a garden clearance job is shaped - compare what each covers before you book.
| Option or job scenario | What it includes | Main restriction | What to confirm before booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green waste only (cuttings, leaves, turf) | Cutting back, bagging and removing organic material, priced per tonne/volume | Doesn't cover sheds, furniture, soil or rubble found on the same visit | Whether anything non-organic needs adding to the job before the carrier arrives |
| Mixed garden clearance (van-load priced) | General garden items plus a moderate amount of green waste, priced by van-load fraction | Heavy material like soil or rubble is usually priced separately, not folded into the van-load figure | Roughly what share of the load is soil, rubble or structural material |
| Soil, rubble or hardstanding removal | Loose soil, broken paving or rubble, priced by weight as dense waste | Van weight limits are reached well before the van looks full, which can mean more than one load | Approximate weight or number of loads, and whether a weighbridge ticket is provided |
| Structure removal (shed, fence, decking) | Dismantling and removing a fixed structure as part of the same visit | Dismantling time is additional labour, separate from simply removing waste that's already loose | Whether the structure needs to be dismantled by the carrier or is already down before they arrive |
These are common ways a job is scoped, not a fixed menu - describe your actual mix when you post a garden clearance job and a licensed carrier will quote against it.
Garden clearance vs skip hire for green waste
Two different services that solve different problems.
A skip and a labour-included garden clearance aren't really substitutes for each other - a skip gives you a container to fill yourself, while a clearance service also includes someone physically cutting back, carrying and loading the material. Which one makes sense depends on how much of the manual handling, sorting and permit admin you're prepared to take on yourself.
| Consideration | Skip hire | Labour-included garden clearance |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the cutting and carrying | You and anyone helping you fill it | The carrier's crew clears and loads material |
| Street permit | Often required if placed on a public road - arranged with the local council | Not applicable - material is loaded directly into a vehicle, no permit needed |
| Access through a narrow side passage or the house | You still have to carry everything to the skip yourself | Carried out by the crew as part of the job |
| Sorting green waste from mixed waste | Down to you, unless you sort before items go in | Carrier can separate green waste, wood, metal and general waste as agreed |
| Typical use case | Ongoing landscaping project or DIY waste over several days | A defined clearance job, often with a deadline, in a single visit |
| Overfilling risk | Skips have a fill line and weight limit that heavy soil or turf can easily exceed | Carrier assesses volume and weight in advance as part of the quote |
A skip can work out practical for a long landscaping project where waste builds up gradually, especially if there's off-street space to put it and the garden has straightforward access. A garden clearance makes more sense where the whole job needs doing in one visit, where access is a factor, or where material needs sorting for responsible disposal rather than simply being thrown in together - our house clearance vs skip hire guide covers the same trade-off in more detail for indoor clearances.
Preparing for a garden clearance
What to do before the carrier arrives, and what the day itself typically looks like.
A garden clearance runs more smoothly - and is easier to quote accurately - when a few things are sorted out in advance. None of this needs to be complicated, but it's worth working through before you post the job.
Before you post the job
- Walk the garden and note roughly how large it is and how overgrown it's become.
- Mark out clearly what's staying and what's going - patio furniture, a greenhouse, planted beds you want kept - even something as simple as a piece of tape or a note.
- Note access details: a clear side gate, a narrow passage, steps down to a lower level, or no side access at all, meaning everything would need to go through the house.
- Flag anything unusual - a tree stump, a collapsing shed, a large amount of soil or rubble - rather than a single generic line.
- Decide on a preferred date, and note whether it's flexible or tied to a particular season.
Posting the job and comparing quotes
Once the job is posted with those details, licensed carriers quote against the actual scope rather than a guess. It's worth comparing more than one quote and checking what each one actually includes. Our what affects house clearance cost guide covers the same underlying principles - access, volume, item type and timing - that apply just as much to a garden as to a house.
On the day
The carrier confirms the time window and access arrangements directly with you ahead of the visit. For most jobs, the crew works through the garden clearing the agreed area, separating material suitable for composting or recycling from anything that needs licensed disposal. A straightforward garden with clear side access is generally quicker to clear than one with no side gate, where everything has to be carried back through the house.
How garden size and overgrowth change the job
Not every garden clearance is the same shape.
"Garden clearance" covers a range of different jobs in practice, and it's worth knowing which one you're actually describing when you post it. A small, regularly maintained garden with a handful of bags of cuttings is a very different job to a plot that hasn't been touched in years, where overgrowth can easily add up to several skip-loads rather than a single van trip. Where an outbuilding clearance is included in the same visit, that brings its own mix of materials - old paint, scrap metal, timber - on top of the garden itself.
Heavier materials change the shape of the job too. Branches from a proper tree prune, loose soil or rubble left over from digging or levelling work, lifted turf, and large planters filled with compacted soil are all deceptively heavy for their volume, and a carrier needs to know roughly how much there is to bring the right vehicle. Fence panels and old decking are structural rather than green waste, and take longer to break down and remove than a comparable volume of cuttings and leaves - worth flagging separately rather than assuming it's a quick add-on to the main job.
Where the clearance is part of a wider move rather than a one-off tidy-up, it's also worth checking our house clearance checklist for the broader sequence of what to sort before, during and after a move, since garden access often overlaps with how furniture and boxes leave the property too.
Timing and seasonal demand
Garden clearance volume genuinely varies through the year.
Unlike most house clearance jobs, garden clearance has a real seasonal pattern. Autumn leaf-fall and spring cut-back after winter dormancy tend to produce the largest single-visit volumes, while summer jobs are often more about ongoing growth control than a one-off backlog. A garden left untouched over winter and cleared in spring is typically a bigger job - and takes longer to clear - than the same garden kept under control through regular smaller clearances.
Where there's a fixed deadline, such as preparing a property for sale or a tenancy handover, it's worth posting the job with as much lead time as possible so carriers can schedule around it, particularly during the busier autumn and spring periods. Where a property is spread across several boroughs - for example, clearing a garden at a relative's home in a different part of London to where you live - it's worth checking the coverage map for which areas currently have carriers active before assuming availability.
The legal background: waste carrier licensing and duty of care
General UK regulation, not a houseclearance.co-specific claim.
Anyone who produces, carries or disposes of household and garden waste in England and Wales has a duty of care to make sure that waste is handled responsibly and only passed to a carrier authorised to take it. This applies to green waste just as much as to general household items - a carrier removing cuttings, branches, old decking or shed contents still needs to be a licensed waste carrier. Our own waste carrier licence page covers what that authorisation looks like, and you can run a waste carrier licence check on anyone quoting before you accept. Some jobs may also generate a waste transfer note as a record of what was removed and how it was disposed of. For the official government position, see:
How the process works, start to finish
From job request to a carrier turning up - see the full how it works breakdown for more detail on each stage.
Describe the job
Garden size, rough mix of green waste versus heavier items, and a photo if that helps, then post the job for licensed carriers to quote.
Add access and timing
Postcode, preferred date and access notes - side gate, steps, or no side access - so the quote reflects the real job.
Get a carrier quote
Our team matches your job with a suitable licensed carrier, who contacts you directly with a price and time slot.
You're not charged for getting an estimate or posting a job - nothing is owed until you've actively accepted a specific quote from a specific carrier.
Frequently asked questions
The questions that come up most often before booking a garden clearance.
How much does garden clearance cost in London?
There's no single published price list - cost depends on garden size and access, how overgrown the plot is, whether the waste is mostly green material or a heavier mix of sheds, furniture, soil or decking, and how urgent the timing is. Green garden waste like branches, trimmings and turf typically runs £140-£220 per tonne, while mixed garden clearances with sheds, furniture or heavier material are usually priced by van-load fraction instead, based on the same ranges published on /prices/ (see the tables on this page for the full breakdown) - the actual price is whatever a licensed carrier quotes once you post the job with those details.
Is garden clearance cheaper than hiring a skip?
Not automatically - a skip only covers the container and disposal, while a labour-included garden clearance also covers someone physically cutting back, carrying and loading everything, including heavier material like soil, turf and old decking. Which works out better depends on how much manual handling, sorting and permit admin you're willing to take on yourself versus pay a carrier to do.
Does the type of garden waste change the price?
Yes - straightforward green waste such as grass cuttings and hedge trimmings is generally quicker to clear and sort than a mixed load that includes shed contents, old garden furniture, fence panels, decking, soil or rubble. Mixed loads need separating into different disposal streams, which takes more time on site than bagging up cuttings and leaves.
Is soil or rubble from the garden classed as green waste?
No - soil, rubble, broken paving and similar inert material are not part of the green waste stream, even when they come out of a garden. Green waste means organic material such as cuttings, branches, leaves and turf; soil, rubble and demolished structures like an old shed base or fence post footings are handled and priced as separate waste types, as set out in the tables on this page.
Do I need to clear access to the garden before the carrier arrives?
Not necessarily, but it helps. Making sure a side gate or path isn't blocked by bins, a parked bike or overgrown branches means the carrier can move material out efficiently, and it typically avoids losing time at the start of the visit.
Does the season affect garden clearance cost?
It can affect volume, which in turn affects price. Autumn leaf-fall and spring cut-back after winter dormancy tend to produce the largest single-visit volumes, while a garden kept under control through regular smaller clearances generally involves less material per visit than one left untouched for a season or more.
What's not included in a standard garden clearance quote?
Landscaping work such as turfing, planting, digging or laying paving is generally outside the scope of a standard garden clearance carrier, since clearance covers removing material rather than redesigning the space. Confirm anything unusual directly with the carrier whose quote you accept.
Ready to see your price?
Post your garden clearance for licensed carriers to quote on.
