Is there a legal time I am allowed to have a bonfire?

No. GOV.UK guidance is clear that there are no set times when you can or cannot burn garden waste, and no bylaw fixing an hour. What matters is nuisance: if the smoke is a persistent problem for neighbours, the council can serve an abatement notice, and burning household waste, treated timber or plastic can be a separate offence.

I think I have Japanese knotweed — can it go with the garden waste?

No. Soil or plant material contaminated with Japanese knotweed may be classified as controlled waste and needs a specific disposal route. You are not legally obliged to remove knotweed from your own land unless it is causing a nuisance, but you can be prosecuted for causing it to spread into the wild.

Why is soil priced so differently from hedge cuttings?

Because disposal is priced by weight and soil is dense. A van of hedge trimmings is bulky but light; the same van filled with wet turf and subsoil can hit its legal payload long before it looks full, which is why soil and green waste are usually quoted separately.

Can I just hire a skip for garden waste?

Often yes, and for soil and turf it can be the cheaper route. Check what the operator allows to be mixed, and if the skip has to stand on the road rather than your own drive you need a skip licence from the council under the Highways Act 1980.

Low risk

Updated 30 August 2026

Piles Of Garden Waste After Clearing The Garden

Hedge cuttings, brambles, turf and soil outgrow a green bin fast — and burning it or moving contaminated soil can both land you in trouble.

What would yours cost?

We'll tell you the price for this, then find a local rubbish and waste clearance specialist to do it.

on your first booking

Get my instant quote

What's happening?

A day of real garden clearance produces a volume nobody plans for. Hedge trimmings and brambles are bulky but light, while turf, soil and roots are the opposite: a few barrow loads of subsoil weighs more than a full skip allowance. Green bins are sized for weekly clippings, garden waste collections are usually subscription-based and fortnightly, and neither is designed for a one-off clearance. Two rules then bite. Burning it is not the free option people assume, because a bonfire that causes a nuisance to neighbours is actionable regardless of the time of day. And soil or plant material contaminated with Japanese knotweed or another invasive non-native plant may be classified as controlled waste, which is a different disposal route entirely.

What usually causes it?

A hedge, conifer row or overgrown boundary cut back hard for the first time in years
Turf and topsoil lifted for a patio, path, shed base or artificial grass
Storm damage leaving branches and a fallen tree to clear
Taking on a garden that has not been touched since the last occupier
Brambles, ivy and bindweed cleared out in bulk, which bulks up enormously loose
Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam or other invasive growth found during clearance
A green waste subscription that has run out or a collection suspended over winter

Is it dangerous?

The waste is not hazardous, but the work around it produces the usual garden injuries: bramble and blackthorn punctures, strains from lifting saturated soil, and cuts from buried glass, wire and rubble in a neglected plot. Two specific risks are worth naming. Rats and hedgehogs shelter in long-standing brash and log piles, so a pile that has stood for weeks should be moved by hand rather than raked into a machine. And burning treated timber, plastic or anything other than dry garden material produces genuinely harmful smoke.

Can I fix it myself?

You can cut waste down to size, which is where most of the cost sits: chopping brash short, stacking rather than heaping, and separating soil and turf from green material so each goes on the right route. You can compost the soft material, use a council green waste subscription for the ongoing trickle, and take car loads to the tip. You can have a garden bonfire — there is no fixed time when it is legal or illegal — but you must not let it cause a nuisance, and you must not burn household rubbish, treated wood or plastic on it.

When should you call a rubbish and waste clearance specialist?

Call a clearance firm when the volume is beyond car loads, when there is soil and rubble mixed in, or when access is through the house or a narrow side gate. Say so upfront if you have found knotweed: contaminated soil and plant material may be controlled waste and must not be moved to a general green waste route, and moving it carelessly is how knotweed spreads to a new site. Ask for the waste carrier registration number before the load leaves.

What will the rubbish and waste clearance specialist actually do?

Separate green material, soil and turf, and any rubble or contamination found in the beds
Load and remove in one visit, with the volume assessed before the price rather than after
Route green waste to composting and soil to an appropriate site rather than mixing the load
Flag suspected invasive plants and stop, rather than moving contaminated soil off site
Provide a waste transfer note and carrier registration details for the load
Clear the access route and make good the path or drive used to barrow it out

Frequently asked questions

We’re happy to answer all your questions.

Sources & References

Want the price for your home?

Tell us what's wrong and we'll tell you the price, then find a local rubbish and waste clearance specialist to do the job.