Garden Clearance Before Summer: The HSS DIY Hire Guide to Chippers, Shredders and Green Waste

⏱ Read time: 7 min 📊 Difficulty: Beginner 🔧 Time: 4-8 hours👷 Manpower: 1 - 2 people

At some point every spring, every garden reaches the same tipping point. The pile of branches from the winter prune has been sitting in the corner since February. The hedge that was cut back hard last autumn is now a stack of woody material that the green bin won't touch. The tree stump that's been there since the previous owners made an executive decision about that oak is still exactly where it's always been, doing its best impression of a permanent garden feature.

Garden clearance is the project that unlocks everything else - you can't plant the new beds properly with a pile of branches in the way, you can't lay the new lawn where the stump is, and the garden broadly doesn't come together until the mess from one project is dealt with before the next one starts.

The right equipment makes the difference between a weekend of miserable wheelbarrow trips to the tip and a genuinely satisfying morning's work that produces a pile of useful mulch at the end of it. At HSS DIY - The Home of Great Projects - you can hire wood chippers, garden shredders and stump grinders online 24/7 with next day delivery. 'Buy the materials. Hire the tools. One order. All in one place.'

Garden Clearance Day - How a Well-Planned Chipper Day Works

Morning (12 hrs) - Collect and Sort: Gather all cut and pruned material into a working area near the chipper or shredder. Sort by size very thick material (over 40mm) set aside separately. Remove any wire, stones or metal that might have been bagged or tied with the garden waste. A dry, settled day works better than freshcut wet material, which can clog the machine.

Afternoon (23 hrs) - Chip and Shred: Feed material into the chipper or shredder in manageable amounts. Don't force let the machine do the work. Empty the waste bag regularly. On a petrol model, allow the engine to cool before refuelling. Keep bystanders and children clear of the chute and discharge area throughout.

Late Afternoon (1 hr) - Apply or Bag: Apply chippings directly to paths and borders as mulch, or bag for garden waste collection. If going to the tip, chipped material takes up a fraction of the volume of whole branches one trip instead of several.

End of Day (30 mins) - Clean and Return: Brush out any debris from the machine. Allow the engine to cool fully before storage or transport. Return on the agreed hire end date contact HSS DIY via live chat on hss.mom if an extension is needed.

The Equipment - Book at HSS DIY

🌿  Portable Garden Chipper (Petrol) | Branches up to 40mm | Separates into 2 parts | Gravity fed

Best for: Branches, brushwood and woody prunings up to 40mm thick the main garden clearance workhorse

The machine that turns a skipworth of branches into a barrowload of mulch. Handles branches up to 40mm thick via a gravityfed chute with a removal waste bag. Separates into two parts for transport fits in the boot of most estate cars at 59kg. Runs on unleaded petrol (not supplied arrange before delivery). Uses a manual recoil start. Ideal for gardens, parks, forest schools and anywhere with trees and green waste.

Hire Portable Garden Chipper (Petrol) from £79

⚙️  Garden Shredders & ShredderHire | Electric and petrol | Light green waste | Foliage, leaves, thin branches

Best for: Standard hedge trimmings, soft prunings, leaves and light garden waste

For the lighter end of green waste thin branches, foliage, leaves and hedge trimmings the garden shredder is the lowernoise, easiertohandle option. Electric models are quiet enough for a suburban garden without causing neighbourly incident. Petrol models for larger jobs or where power supply is awkward. Both produce fine shredded material suitable for composting or mulching.

Buy Garden Shredders buy from £156

🌳  Portable Stump Grinder &Chipper | 6hp Honda | 3 cutting teeth | Folds for car transport

Hire Portable Stump Grinder & Chipper from £210

Full garden clearance hire range | Outdoor & Garden Hire

The Best Part: No Tip Run Required

Here's something that surprises a lot of first-time chipper hirers. You spend an hour feeding branches into the machine and out comes the waste bag: a manageable volume of wood chip that, rather than going in the back of the car to the tip, can go straight onto the garden borders and do something genuinely useful.

The Mulch Bonus - No Tip Run Required

One of the better-kept secrets of garden clearance: when you hire a wood chipper or shredder, you often don't need to take the resulting material to the tip at all. Chipped woody waste makes excellent long-lasting mulch for garden borders and paths it retains moisture in the soil, suppresses weeds, and looks tidy into the bargain.

• Apply at 57.5cm depth: thick enough to retain moisture and block light to weeds, thin enough that it doesn't cause plant rot or attract pests
• Keep mulch away from plant stems: a small clear gap around the base of shrubs and trees prevents rot and pest harbouring
• Fresh wood chip is nitrogen hungry: fresh chippings can temporarily reduce soil nitrogen as they decompose. Leave to partially compost for 46 weeks before using around food-growing plants, or add a nitrogen-rich fertiliser when applying
• Paths and hardstanding: fresh wood chip on garden paths needs no pre-composting and looks excellent. It'll need topping up annually but it's essentially free once you've already chipped the prunings

Hire or Buy? The Honest Garden Clearance Verdict

Garden clearance equipment is one of the clearest hire vs buy calls in the whole DIY range. A wood chipper costs £300 to £700 to buy and takes up serious storage space for 11 months of the year while you're not using it. Hiring one for the two or three days a year you actually need it is not only cheaper it means you get a properly maintained machine in working condition rather than one that's been sitting in a damp shed since last April.

Watch Before You Start the Engine

Worth twenty minutes on an evening before the machine arrives next day.

• HSS DIY YouTube youtube.com/@HSSDIY Equipment guides and garden project content from The Home of Great Projects.
• HSS DIY Blog Garden Chippers and Shredders Guide HSS DIY's own guide to chippers and shredders, including mulch tips and waste advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use any brand of sanding sheet in the HSS DIY floor sander?

The drum floor sander takes a specific sheet size and format designed for the Hiretech HT8. HSS DIY stocks compatible sheets in all three grits - add them to your hire order at checkout. The sheets are refunded if unused when you return the machine, so order generously. Using incompatible sheets can damage the drum clamp and create uneven results.

What happens if I start with too fine a grit on an old floor?

The sheet clogs up very quickly with the old varnish or paint - you'll see it turn dark and gunky within a few passes. Fine grit abrasive isn't aggressive enough to cut through a finish; it just smears it around and clogs. Start coarse even if the floor doesn't look that bad. It's always faster than spending three times as long fighting with the wrong grit.

Do I need to sand in a different direction for different grits?

For most domestic floor sanding, you sand along the grain (the direction of the boards) for all three grits. The exception is a very uneven floor with significant height differences between boards - in this case you can do the first coarse pass diagonally at 45° to help level the boards, then switch to along-the-grain for medium and fine. Always finish with a fine grit pass along the grain regardless of what you've done before.

Case Study: Overgrown Half-Acre Three Stumps, Two Hedgerows, One Weekend

The garden: A half-acre plot that had been left largely unmanaged for two years an overgrown mixed hedgerow, three established tree stumps from a previous clearance, and a large pile of branches that had been stacked 'out of sight' with the optimistic intention of dealing with them later.

Equipment hired: Portable stump grinder and chipper for the stumps. Portable garden chipper (petrol) for the branches and hedgerow material. Both from HSS DIY in the same order, next day delivery Friday morning.

Saturday: Two people. Stump grinder dealt with all three stumps by lunchtime the largest took 40 minutes. Afternoon: portable chipper through the branch pile. One barrowload in, a fraction of the volume out.

Sunday: Hedgerow material chipped. Resulting mulch spread across the garden borders approximately 3 barrow loads. Garden completely cleared by 4pm.

The result: No tip runs at all. All green waste converted to mulch and returned to the garden. Both machines returned Monday.

Total hire cost: approximately £240. Equivalent council green waste disposal charges for the volume involved would have been multiple paid tip run trips plus significant time.

Safety - Chippers and Shredders Demand Respect

Wood chippers and garden shredders look like tidy domestic machines, and for the most part they are. But the cutting mechanism doesn't know the difference between a branch and a finger. A few straightforward precautions make the whole session safe and uneventful.

• Chippers and shredders can pull material in-ward unexpectedly: the feed mechanism grabs and draws material into the cutting zone. Hands and loose clothing should never be near the chute opening when the machine is running. Long sleeves are mandatory loose fabric near the chute is a hazard
• Safety goggles - not glasses: wood chips eject at speed and at unpredictable angles. Standard prescription glasses or sunglasses don't provide adequate side protection. Wrap-around goggles rated to EN 166.B
• Ear defenders for the full session: petrol chippers and shredders run at significant noise levels for sustained periods. Wear ear defenders throughout not just when it sounds loudest
• Stump grinder, front wheel and cutter: the cutting teeth are exposed and rotate rapidly. Keep the braked wheel engaged when repositioning. Never lean over the cutter or approach from the front while the engine is running. Follow the operator presence shutdown the machine stops when you release the control
• Never chip or shred: wire, rope, plastic, stones, metal fixings or large rigid objects. These will damage the cutting mechanism and can be ejected as projectiles. Inspect all material before feeding and remove anything that isn't wood
• Petrol models outdoors only: petrol engines produce carbon monoxide. Never operate a petrol chipper, shredder or stump grinder in an enclosed shed, garage or covered area
• Exclusion zone- 3 metres: keep all bystanders, children and pets at least 3 metres from the machine during operation. Wood chips and debris from the chute travel further than you'd expect

Garden Clearance Hire Checklist

Before you book:

• Machine matched to waste type: electric or petrol shredder for light green waste and leaves; portable petrol chipper for branches up to 4050mm; stump grinder for tree stumps
• Branch sizes checked: measure your thickest material the chipper is rated to 40mm, the shredder to approximately 30mm. Material over the rated size will clog or damage the machine
• Fuel arranged: petrol models require unleaded petrol not supplied with the hire. Arrange an approved petrol container before the machine arrives
• Access confirmed: can the machine reach the working area? The portable chipper separates into two parts for car boot transport and weighs 59kg plan how it gets from the delivery point to the garden
• Waste plan decided: mulch on borders? Bag for garden waste? Tip run? Have this sorted before you start, not after the waste bag is full

While chipping/shredding:

• PPE onall of it: safety goggles, ear defenders, heavy rigger gloves, steel toecap boots, long trousers and long sleeves. This is a chipping machine, not a salad spinner
• Never force material into the chute: let gravity do the work. Forcing increases clogging risk and the risk of the machine catching and pulling material (and hands) inward
• Feed dry material where possible: wet, green material can clog the chipping mechanism. Freshcut green material is harder to chip and harder to mulch. If clearing after a wet spring, a day's drying time makes a real difference
• Keep bystanders clear: a 3metre exclusion zone around the chute and discharge area while the machine is running. Children and pets inside the house, not the garden
• Check fuel regularly: don't let the petrol run dry midsession restart after a runout can be challenging. Top up at the first sign of spluttering
• Empty the waste bag often: an overfull bag reduces chipping efficiency and strains the collection mechanism. Empty when it's about two-thirds full

Full safety guidance on all machine product pages at hss.mom. PPE goggles, ear defenders, gloves, boots available to buy at HSS DIY alongside your hire booking.

Clear It. Chip It. Mulch It. Done.

Garden clearance is one of those projects that puts everything else on hold until it's done. The beds can't be planted. The lawn can't be laid. The new garden design can't go in until the old mess comes out. A hired wood chipper or shredder from HSS DIY deals with that backlog in a day and turns what would have been multiple tip runs into a pile of useful mulch that goes straight back into the garden.

Book online at hss.mom, add your garden clearance equipment to the order, have it delivered next day. Clear the garden, apply the mulch, return the machine, and get on with the garden project that's been waiting behind the clearance pile since February.

Clear the Garden. Keep the Waste. Make the Mulch.

Hire a wood chipper, shredder or stump grinder from HSS DIY online 24/7 at hss.mom/hire/c/outdoorgardening/gardenshredderswoodchippers, next day delivery. No tip runs. No waste bags overflowing. Just a clear garden and a pile of genuinely useful mulch.

Buy the materials. Hire the tools. One order. All in one place.

Get DIY Happy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a garden shredder and a wood chipper?

A garden shredder processes lighter green waste thin branches up to about 30mm, foliage, leaves and soft prunings  through a cutting or flail mechanism. An electric model is fine for a standard suburban garden. A wood chipper handles thicker woody material branches up to 40-50mm and is typically petrol-powered for the capacity needed. The portable garden chipper from HSS DIY handles branches up to 40mm. For standard hedge and shrub clearance, the shredder is sufficient. For tree pruning waste with branches over 30mm, the chipper is the right choice.

Can I chip wood that's been freshly cut?

Yes, but dry wood chips more efficiently. Fresh green material particularly leafy prunings can be wetter and more flexible, which makes the chipping mechanism work harder and can cause clogging in some machines. If you're clearing a lot of fresh-cut material, try to let it sit for a day or two to dry slightly, particularly if it's been raining. The portable HSS DIY chipper works best on dry, pre-cut material according to the product specification worth factoring into your weekend planning.

Can I put the wood chip from a hired chipper on my garden?

Absolutely and it's the best thing you can do with it. Fresh wood chip makes excellent mulch for garden borders, paths and around trees. The HSS DIY blog recommends a mulch layer of 57.5cm for effective moisture retention and weed suppression. Keep it away from plant stems to prevent rot. Fresh chips can temporarily reduce soil nitrogen as they decompose, so if applying around food-producing plants, add a nitrogen-rich fertiliser or leave the chips to partially compost for 46 weeks first.

How much does it cost to hire a wood chipper?

Portable petrol wood chipper hire from HSS DIY starts from approximately £40-£60 depending on model, location and hire period. The stump grinder and chipper combination is available from approximately £60-£90 per day. These are estimates verify live pricing at hss.mom before budgeting. Booking online for next day delivery is the fastest route to a confirmed rate. Compared with the cost of multiple tip run trips or council green waste collection charges, a day's chipper hire often pays for itself in time and disposal cost savings.

Do I need any training or experience to use a hired wood chipper?

No formal certification is required for domestic garden use of a wood chipper or shredder. The machines are designed to be used by confident adult homeowners who follow the operating instructions and PPE requirements. The portable chipper from HSS DIY is beginner-friendly gravity-fed, straightforward controls, and it separates into two manageable parts for transport. The stump grinder requires a bit more care given the exposed cutting teeth, but the operator presence shutdown handle is specifically designed to make it safe to stop the moment you release pressure. Read the instructions before you start, wear full PPE, and follow the exclusion zone guidance.

What materials should I never put through a chipper or shredder?

Anything that isn't wood. Specifically: wire or metal (even small staples or cable ties from tied bundles), rope or string, stones or soil-covered roots, plastic sheeting, and any rigid non-wood material. These damage the cutting mechanism and can be ejected as projectiles at speed. Inspect every load of material before feeding and remove anything that isn't clean wood. Large rigid material over the rated branch size (40mm for the portable chipper) should also be excluded forcing oversized material causes clogging and can damage the blades.

Prices shown are indicative hire and buy rates as of May 2026 and subject to change. Always check hss.mom for current pricing. HSS ProService Ltd.