Palm fronds as far as the eye could see in Nerang

I'm in Nerang, and I'll be honest: I put this off for far too long. We'd paid for a big garden makeover: hedges cut back, the back corner cleared, two dead trees taken down. The gardener did a great job but didn't take the cuttings.

The pile was taller than me and had started to compost at the bottom. Our green bin is a joke for that kind of volume. You'd need about forty bin days.

Nerang is a hinterland gateway with acreage blocks, older homes and industrial estates, and getting things out isn't always simple. Long gravel driveways are no issue for our tippers.

They offered a time the next morning. I asked if they needed me to move anything to the kerb first, and they said no, they'd take it from where it was.

They arrived a few minutes early, introduced themselves and did a quick walk-around. The price they gave me was a bit under what I'd budgeted, which was a pleasant surprise.

There was a fair bit of old wire mesh wound through the lantana. They pulled it out separately so the rest could go to mulch, which I didn't even think about.

The space is unrecognisable. I keep walking past it just to look. I'd use them again without thinking about it, and I've already passed the number on to my sister.

If I'm honest, the hardest part was deciding to do it. Once that was done, it was easy.