At the end of the line, Hurstbridge properties are bushier and bigger than most. When the branches and prunings pile up, Ross brings the trailer out.
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 Hurstbridge 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.
Branches and prunings from bush 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.
Township gardens and bigger properties.
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.
Litter and dead growth cleared from homes.
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.
Limbs down across drives and paddocks.
Hurstbridge is the last stop on its train line and has the feel of a country town rather than an outer suburb. Around the main street there is a small grid of township blocks; beyond that, homes spread out along hilly roads on large properties with heavy tree cover and open paddocks.
That mix means there's always something to clear. In town it's hedges, fruit trees and leafy gardens. Out on the bigger blocks, it's gum branches, dead scrub and stacks of cut material that have been sitting for a season or two. Ross loads the trailer by hand and handles the green waste disposal.
Hurstbridge gardens tend to be generous, and the trees on them are large and old. That means big prunings, big leaf drops and branches heavy enough that they're a job to move on your own.
Ross takes it all: long limbs, brush and prunings packed down tight, and heaps of leaves and bark loaded up. Bigger jobs may need a couple of trips; you will know that before the work starts.
Hurstbridge sits in heavily timbered hills on the northern fringe of Nillumbik, and bushfire preparation is part of life here. The CFA declares a Fire Danger Period each year, and burning off stops once it is in place.
The fuel that matters is fine and close: dry leaves in gutters, bark around the base of the house, and pruning piles left near sheds. A fire season clean-up loads that material up and takes it off the property.
Some Hurstbridge properties have long, steep or gravel driveways, low branches over the track or a tight turning area near the house. Mention anything like that when you enquire.
Ross brings the trailer in as far as he safely can and carries the rest. Photos of the driveway and the pile make it straightforward to give an accurate quote.
Bookings around Hurstbridge climb sharply once the Fire Danger Period is announced. Getting the pile and the litter cleared in October means the job is done while the weather is mild and before the rush sets in across the shire.
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.
