Big trees, sloping blocks down toward the river and gardens that have been growing for a century. Ross loads the branches, leaves and prunings by hand and takes them away.
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 Alphington 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 litter from big leafy blocks.
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.
Sloping gardens and overgrown back corners.
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 litter cleared back from sheds and fences.
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.
Big limbs off mature trees, loaded and removed.
Alphington is small but it has some of the biggest gardens in the inner north. Bounded by the Yarra to the south and the Darebin Creek to the east, it has wide, established blocks, some that slope down toward the river, and a lot of old trees — elms, oaks, gums and conifers planted long before the houses around them were renovated.
Big trees mean big drops: leaves every autumn, bark and twigs all year, and a branch or two after every blustery night. Add hedges and shrubs that fill out a large block and there is plenty of green waste. Ross does the heavy part — loading it by hand and taking it to a green waste facility.
Mature trees are why people love Alphington, and they are also why the garden never quite stays clean. The canopy drops leaves, seed pods, twigs and bark onto lawns, beds and roofs, and after a windy spell there is usually a branch or two to deal with as well.
A regular green waste collection keeps it manageable. Some people book one after autumn and another in spring; others just ring when the pile behind the garage is getting big.
Some of the blocks closer to the river fall away from the street, with steps, retaining walls and terraced beds. It looks great; getting a load of branches back up the slope is harder work.
Ross carries it up by hand, and allows for that in the price. Tell him about any steps or a steep path when you enquire, and send a photo if you can.
Alongside the older streets, Alphington has a large newer development on the former paper mill site, with townhouses and apartments and much smaller gardens. Those households tend to generate less, but courtyards still get overgrown and planter boxes still need clearing out.
Small loads are fine. Ross can often combine a few small jobs in the same area on the same day.
Alphington’s big trees drop the most in autumn and after the spring and early-summer storms. Clear the leaves and dead wood before winter and again after the spring winds, and the gutters, paths and lawns stay on top of it.
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.
