Branches, prunings and a compost facility that only takes what it can chip
Cape Winelands District · Stellenbosch, Drakenstein, Witzenberg, Breede Valley and Langeberg
Garden Refuse Removal in the Winelands
A garden clear is the lightest skip job there is, and the one a weighbridge treats most kindly — until soil and stumps get involved. Here is what goes where in the district.
By the Winelands Skips request desk · checked 19 October 2026 · written and fact-checked in house · every municipal fact is sourced on the guide page
What a garden skip takes
Branches, prunings, hedge clippings, leaves, grass, old fencing, palm fronds and the general debris of a garden that has been left too long. It is light, which means the bin fills by volume rather than weight, and an 8m³ can be the right size for a big plot.
Green waste and the compost facility
Langeberg's Robertson Compost Facility takes clean green waste that can be chipped, and Robertson's transfer station will not take clean green waste itself. Franschhoek's drop-off takes garden waste and bulky items. Stellenbosch's landfill takes garden waste from residents.
The pattern across the district: green waste has its own route, and thick branches or contaminated loads fall out of it. If a load is mixed with rubble or plastic it is no longer clean green waste and is priced as general waste.
When it is not just a garden
Soil, stumps, rocks and building rubble are not garden waste. Soil is heavy, and a garden bin filled with soil will hit a weight limit long before it looks full. If the job includes levelling or removing a bed, say so at booking.
Palm and tree work can produce a lot of volume quickly. If a tree has been felled on the property, the timber may be worth keeping or selling rather than tipping.
Garden waste and the by-laws
Stellenbosch's by-law allows garden waste to be composted on the property, stored in bags or a compost heap, and taken to a licensed facility. It also allows the municipality to set maximum quantities for collection and to require a weighbridge ticket for larger quantities.
For a large garden clear, that is another reason to use a skip rather than the municipal collection round.
Pools, paving and garden work
Garden clear-ups often run alongside pool and paving work. The Cape fleet's pool service covers the same suburbs, and its clean-ups produce the same green waste.
Choosing the size
A normal suburban garden tidy is a 4m³. A large plot or an overgrown garden that has not been cleared in years is an 8m³. A single tree's branches and a few bags of leaves fit a 2m³ — if the pieces are short enough to lie flat.
What a garden clear actually weighs
Green waste is the lightest waste a skip carries, which is why a garden job usually fills by volume rather than weight. The exceptions are soil, wet grass and stumps: a bin of wet grass is heavy, and a bin of topsoil is heavier still.
Keep soil out of a green-waste load unless the operator has agreed to take it, and keep it out of a load meant for a compost facility, which takes only clean green waste that can be chipped.
Clearing a plot that has not been touched in years
An overgrown plot produces more than branches. Expect old fencing, builders' rubble from a previous owner, plastic and general junk mixed into the green waste. That mixture is no longer clean green waste, so it is priced as general waste and it goes to a different facility.
Two bins are usually better than one on a neglected plot: one for the green waste and one for everything else.
Questions before you book
Short answers. Where the answer depends on the operator, the page says so instead of inventing a number.
Can I put grass cuttings in a skip?
Yes, as garden waste. They are heavy when wet, so do not fill a bin with wet grass alone.
Can I put soil in a garden skip?
Ask. Soil is heavy and some operators will not take it in a general-waste bin. If they will, the weight allowance decides the price.
Do you take palm fronds?
Yes, as garden waste. They are bulky rather than heavy, which is exactly what a skip is for.
The request
Request a bin for your address
The town and one line about the job — what you are clearing, the size, the date and any access constraint. The town decides which operator sees it, and the price comes back as a quote, not a guess.
- One form. No account, no card, no obligation.
- A local operator confirms the size, the hire period and the price.
- Nothing is dropped until you accept the quote.
The request desk is not the skip company: the operator who quotes you delivers and tips the bin. The footer of every page says the same thing.
The request slip
Five fields. Your town decides which operator sees it.