Cost & Ideas for Clearing & Planting 1/2 Acre

emdouglas

We are looking for some advice. We have house on a half acre site. The site is very overgrown: about 70% long grass, with the rest a combination of piles of tree cuttings, lumpy ground with rubbish and lots of brambles. It's on the side of a hill, though not very steep. It is a long narrow site, and we'd like to clear it and initially plant grass. (In the long run we want to plant trees and have raised beds etc. but we are happy to do that ourselves.)

We were thinking of hiring a mini-digger to clear the land, but have never done anything like this before. It would also be a huge job for us to clear it then plant it. We were wondering about hiring a landscape gardener to clear the site, prepare the soil then plant grass seed.

Any ideas re what we should expect to pay for someone to do this work for us?

Has anyone had experience of clearing land with a digger themselves (with no prior experience!!) or hiring someone to do it on a similar scale?

People have suggested getting goats, but it isn't fenced in so that isn't an option, as I figure it would cost as much to fence the garden as it would to pay someone to clear the site. We are on a pretty tight budget too..

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

My Potatoes

As an approximate rule of thumb, the cost of a garden is the same as the cost of a kitchen.
How much have you paid to fit the kitchen?

emdouglas

I can't see how the two costs could be related. I am looking for costs for a company of landscape gardeners to come in with a digger and clear the site then replant it with grass. Any ideas?

Sonnenblumen

emdouglas wrote: »

I can't see how the two costs could be related. I am looking for costs for a company of landscape gardeners to come in with a digger and clear the site then replant it with grass. Any ideas?

Agree a rather silly comparison, because as almost everyone knows kitchen costs are incremental and much higher/sq m irrespective of size than any garden will ever be. Anyways, an approx modest cost would be € 1.50 - €2.00/sq m.

My Potatoes

emdouglas wrote: »

I can't see how the two costs could be related. I am looking for costs for a company of landscape gardeners to come in with a digger and clear the site then replant it with grass. Any ideas?

Small sites tend to have small houses built on them. Such houses tend to have small kitchens.
Large sites tend to have large houses built on them. Such houses tend to have large kitchens.
Those that have budget kitchens fitted tend to go with budget gardens. And so on....

Have you fitted a kitchen yet, or if not, thought of it and had it priced? This isn't an exact science, just a rule of thumb.

I got a quote for a hymac recently. €43 plus VAT per hour. Legit with a receipt.

For a landscape gardener, about €20 per square metre (fully cultivated), with a receipt.

Try to look for a quote here:
http://www.onlinetradesmen.ie/

Sonnenblumen

My Potatoes wrote: »

Small sites tend to have small houses built on them. Such houses tend to have small kitchens.
Large sites tend to have large houses built on them. Such houses tend to have large kitchens.
Those that have budget kitchens fitted tend to go with budget gardens. And so on....

Have you fitted a kitchen yet, or if not, thought of it and had it priced? This isn't an exact science, just a rule of thumb.

I got a quote for a hymac recently. €43 plus VAT per hour. Legit with a receipt.

For a landscape gardener, about €20 per square metre (fully cultivated), with a receipt.

Try to look for a quote here:
http://www.onlinetradesmen.ie/

So on the basis 1 acre = 4,000+ sq m, according to your estimates, the OP can expect to pay € 40k + for fully cultivated! Does the cost also include a scattering of gold dust?

My Potatoes

He mentioned there is a house on the site. We'll assume there is a driveway. Maybe a garage. The areas of these will need to be subtracted.