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Backyard cleanup and yard clearing

Backyard cleanup in Oshawa and Durham Region.

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Backyard cleanup in Oshawa and Durham Region starts at $700 plus HST for a small lot, quoted at your address and fixed before any work starts. No membership needed.

Fully insured
CVOR registered, the Ontario registration a work truck has to carry
Fixed price before we start
No membership needed

Get my price Call or text 905-244-5779

Backyard cleanup, before and after

These are real Northline backyards, photographed on the day of the work. Drag the line on any photo to compare.

The same strip beside the shed after a Northline backyard cleanup, leaves gone and the bed cut back to clean soil — Beside the shed. Leaves off the grass and the bed taken back to clean soil.

A strip of lawn and a narrow bed beside a backyard shed, buried in fallen leaves before the cleanup — Beside the shed. Leaves off the grass and the bed taken back to clean soil.

The same back corner after a Northline backyard cleanup, lawn clear and the rock garden and bed edge visible again — The back corner. The rock garden and the bed edge were under the leaves.

The back corner of a yard with leaves across the lawn and a rock garden lost under them — The back corner. The rock garden and the bed edge were under the leaves.

A swept brick patio and a clear lawn edge at the back of a house after a Northline backyard cleanup — The patio at the end of the same visit. Swept, and the lawn edge cut back off the brick.

More backyards, start to finish

The same backyard after a Northline cleanup, lawn and garden beds cleared of leaves — Backyard beds. Leaves out of the beds, not just off the grass.

Backyard lawn and rock garden beds covered in fallen leaves before a cleanup — Backyard beds. Leaves out of the beds, not just off the grass.

The same back lawn after a Northline cleanup, every leaf off the grass — The back lawn. Grass that was invisible an hour earlier.

A back lawn under a heavy layer of leaves before a cleanup — The back lawn. Grass that was invisible an hour earlier.

The same backyard lawn after a Northline cleanup, cleared from the house through to the fence — The full yard. Cleared from the house through to the fence.

A backyard lawn buried in leaves along the full length of the fence before a cleanup — The full yard. Cleared from the house through to the fence.

The same fence line after a Northline cleanup, the boards clear to the ground — The fence line. Leaves pack against the boards and stay wet all winter.

A fence line at the back of a yard packed with leaves blown up against the boards — The fence line. Leaves pack against the boards and stay wet all winter.

The same backyard after a Northline clearing, grass cut down and the beds opened up — A yard left to go over. Cut down and the beds opened up again.

A backyard left to go over, with long grass and growth across the beds — A yard left to go over. Cut down and the beds opened up again.

The same backyard tree after a Northline clearing, the bed cut back and the grass down — Around the tree. The bed cut back and the ring opened up.

A backyard tree surrounded by overgrown bed and long grass before the work — Around the tree. The bed cut back and the ring opened up.

You do not need a membership for a backyard cleanup, and most people who book one are not members. Call once, get the yard back, pay the invoice, and that is a perfectly good way to be a customer.

Northline Property Care is an owner operated residential business working out of Oshawa, covering Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Bowmanville, Courtice and Clarington. Fully insured and HST registered. The person who quotes your property is the person who does the work, which is why the number does not move.

What a backyard cleanup actually includes

A cleanup is a list of jobs rather than a feeling, so here is the list, in the order it happens.

Every leaf off the lawn and out of the beds. Beds are where leaves get left by anybody working fast, and where they do the most harm, because nothing under a bed gets air again until April.

Beds cut back and edged, so the line between bed and grass is a line again. Perennials taken down to the height each one wants, which is not the same height for all of them.

The side passage down the side of the house. This is the strip almost every quote quietly leaves out, and it is the part you walk past every day.

The ground around and behind the shed, the strip under a deck where it can be reached, and window wells cleared at ground level so meltwater has somewhere to go in March.

Fallen branches and limbs at ground level gathered with the rest. Anything needing a saw above ladder height is not our work and we will tell you who does it rather than guess at it.

Everything bagged or hauled away. A pile at the back of the lot is not a finished cleanup, it is the same mess moved twelve feet.

What a backyard cleanup costs in Oshawa and Durham Region

A backyard cleanup starts at $700 plus HST for a small lot, $900 plus HST for a standard lot and $1,100 plus HST for a large one. On the card that is $791.00, $1,017.00 and $1,243.00.

Small lot: $700 plus HST, $791.00 on the card
Standard lot: $900 plus HST, $1,017.00 on the card
Large lot: $1,100 plus HST, $1,243.00 on the card

The band is set by the yard, not by the house. A narrow town lot with one tree sits at the bottom of the range and a deep lot with mature maples and beds down both fences sits at the top. You get the number before anything starts, and it is the number on the invoice.

Two things move a yard up a band more often than size does. The first is how much of it is bed rather than lawn, because a bed is handwork and a lawn is not. The second is the gate.

Why a backyard costs more than a front yard the same size

Access, and it is worth understanding before you compare two quotes.

A front yard opens onto the road and everything leaves in a straight line. A backyard usually empties through one gate, and a gate is often thirty six inches wide, which means nothing rolls. Every bag is carried the length of the house and out the side.

Two yards of the same measured size can be an hour apart on that one fact. It is the reason a flat per square foot price for yard work is almost always wrong, and the reason we look at the route out before we quote the yard.

If your gate is wider than a standard one, or there is a rear laneway, say so when you send the address. It frequently moves the quote down.

The yard that has been left for a season or more

A yard that nobody has touched since last spring is a different job from a leaf cleanup, and it is one we do often: rental turnovers, a property being listed, an estate, or simply a season that got away from somebody.

That work is not weather dependent in the way a leaf cleanup is. It can be done any time the ground is workable, which in this region is roughly April through November. It is quoted the same way, at the address, with the number fixed first.

One honest warning. A yard left long enough that the bed lines have disappeared under growth takes a cleanup to find the shape and then a second visit in the following season to hold it. We will say which yours is at the quote rather than afterwards.

When to book

For a leaf cleanup, early October. The window runs from the first half of October to the first week or two of November, and by the third week of October most of this region is booked. A late dropping property with mature maples and oaks is often a two visit job, and that is identified at the quote.

For a yard that has been left to go over, any time. The earlier in the season it happens the more of the lawn comes back.

What is not included, and who to call instead

Tree work above ladder height, irrigation repair, hardscaping, sod and grading are not services we offer. We refer them rather than attempt them, and we will give you a name instead of a maybe.

Sorting the inside of a shed or a garage is not in the standard price. It is a job we are happy to quote separately when you ask for it.

The towns and neighbourhoods we cover

Oshawa and Whitby

North Oshawa, Windfields, Kedron, Taunton, Samac and Centennial, through to the older streets south of King. In Whitby, Brooklin, Williamsburg, Pringle Creek and Rolling Acres.

Ajax, Pickering, Bowmanville, Courtice and Clarington

Everything from the lake up to Taunton and beyond it. If you are not sure whether your address is in, type it into the box above and you will have an answer the same day rather than a guess.

One off, or included in a membership

A cleanup is included every year in all three memberships, which start at $129 a month plus HST. If you are weighing one against the other, the cleanup price on this page is the thing to compare it against, because the membership is not an add on to this job, it contains it.

Common questions about backyard cleanup in Durham Region

What does a backyard cleanup cost in Oshawa and Durham Region?

A backyard cleanup starts at $700 plus HST for a small lot, $900 plus HST for a standard lot and $1,100 plus HST for a large one. On the card that is $791.00, $1,017.00 and $1,243.00. The number is quoted at your address and fixed before any work starts, so it does not move once the gate is open.

Do I need a membership to book a backyard cleanup?

No. A backyard cleanup is a one off job and most of the people who book one are not members. Call once, get the yard back, pay the invoice. Memberships start at $129 a month plus HST and they include a cleanup every year, but nothing on this page requires one.

What is included in a backyard cleanup?

Every leaf off the lawn and out of the beds. Beds cut back and edged. The side passage, the ground behind the shed and the strip under a deck where reachable. Window wells cleared at ground level. Branches and fallen limbs at ground level gathered. Everything bagged or hauled away rather than piled at the back of the lot.

Why does a backyard cost more than a front yard the same size?

Access. A front yard opens onto the road and everything leaves in a straight line. A backyard usually empties through one gate, often a narrow one, which means every bag is carried the length of the house. Two yards of identical size can be an hour apart on that fact alone, and it is the single thing most quotes never explain.

Do you clear the shed and the side passage as well?

The side passage is part of the job and it is the first place a fast cleanup skips, because it is narrow and nothing on wheels fits. Ground around and behind a shed is included. Sorting the inside of a shed is not part of the standard price and is quoted separately when you ask.

When is the best time to book a backyard cleanup?

Early October for a leaf cleanup, before the region books up in the third week. A yard that has been left for a season or more is not weather dependent and can be done any time the ground is workable, which in this region means roughly April through November.

Book a backyard cleanup in Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Bowmanville or Courtice

You are calling the owner. No dispatcher, no call centre, and nobody you have never met turning up unannounced.

Call or text 905-244-5779, or email andrew@northlinepropertycare.ca with your address, roughly how wide the gate is, and how much of the yard is garden bed. You get a fixed price back the same day. Office hours are Monday to Friday 7 AM to 7 PM and Saturday 7 AM to 5 PM, closed Sunday.

Green in summer. Clear in winter.

Where to go next

If you are not ready to ask for a price yet

Fall cleanup and leaf removalThe whole property rather than the yard, and what the two visit properties have in common.Every add on, priced in the openMulch, hedges, beds and aeration, with the numbers on the page.The cleanup checklistIf you would rather do it yourself, this is the order to do it in.

Andrew answers

Why will nobody give me a price for a backyard over the phone?

Because the yard is only half the question and the way out is the other half. I can price most front yards off a map. For a backyard I want to know how wide the gate is and whether there is a rear laneway, because that decides whether the bags walk ten feet or a hundred and ten. Send me those two things with the address and you will get a real number the same day without anybody standing in your driveway.

One of these goes on each page and it is replaced monthly. If the question you have is not here, ask it: 905-244-5779.

Get the yard back before the snow sits on it

Everything left on a lawn in November is still there in April, flattened and wet. Send the address and I will have a price for the backyard back to you the same day.

Get my price Call or text 905-244-5779

Green in summer. Clear in winter.