If you’ve got a mental list of little jobs that never quite make it to the top of the weekend, you’re in good company. The gutters that need clearing. The green waste behind the shed. The bins nobody wants to drag out. Most people know Jim’s for mowing, and that’s fair enough, it’s the name on the trailer. But mowing is only part of what your local franchisee does. Here’s the honest list of odd jobs you can hand over, and how to ask.
What counts as an odd job?
The simplest definition we’ve heard comes from a franchisee in Bendigo, and it’s the one worth remembering.
“I’ve said to all my customers, I’m your person. So the moment something comes in your head that you need something done that is outside the four walls of your house, you call me first, regardless of how abstract or stupid you might think it is. I want to be your person.”
— Gavin Piazza, Jim’s Mowing Bendigo, on the Jim’s Mowing podcast
Outside the four walls of your house. That’s the patch. And once customers work that out, the requests get creative. Gavin has shifted a trampoline 15km across Bendigo in the back of his trailer, put together a barbecue for a customer who bought the flat-pack and then opened the box, and emptied a pool that was three foot deep in water because the customer needed it empty before the new liner could go in.
None of those jobs are on a price list. All of them got done.
The odd jobs Jim’s gets asked for most
Some odd jobs come up so often they’ve become proper services. These are the ones your local franchisee is most likely to already have the gear for.
- Gutter clearing. Leaves, seed pods and the odd tennis ball. Most homes need it every four to six months, more often if you’re under gum trees or in a bushfire-risk area. Our Jim’s gutter cleaning service covers single-storey work, and where a job needs a working-at-heights setup, your franchisee will bring in someone in the network who’s ticketed for it.
- Green waste and rubbish runs. The pile behind the shed, last month’s prunings, the boxes in the garage. Jim’s rubbish removal handles green waste and general household clutter. Worth knowing: tip fees are a real cost and they vary a lot by council, so the quote reflects volume as well as time.
- Pressure cleaning. Driveways, paths, pavers and the patio that’s gone green over winter. One of the biggest visual changes you can make to a property in a single visit. Our guide on pressure cleaning driveways covers where DIY starts to fall over.
- Hedges, pruning and a general tidy. A shrub that’s swallowed a window, garden beds that got away over a wet season. Small jobs get folded into a regular visit. Bigger ones get quoted properly through Jim’s hedge trimming and pruning.
- Mulch, stones and planting. Topping up mulch, laying river stones or pebbles, getting new plants in the ground. This sits under Jim’s garden landscaping, and it’s the sort of job that lifts a tired front yard in an afternoon.
- Weed spraying. Broadleaf weeds in the lawn, weeds in the driveway cracks, weeds through the gravel. Spraying rules differ by state, and WA has the tightest licensing requirements in the country, so your local franchisee will tell you what they can do in your area.
- Reticulation and sprinklers. If you’re in Perth you already know this one. Almost every WA lawn runs on retic, and our franchisees over there spend a good chunk of the year on broken pipes, blocked sprinkler heads and controllers that have quietly stopped working.
- Cobwebs and a brush down. Eaves, porches, the underside of the pergola. Five minutes of work that makes the whole front of the house look cared for.
New for 2026: the odd jobs most people don’t know about
A batch of new services was added to Jim’s Mowing this year, for exactly the reason you’d expect.
“We’ve all got odd jobs in our trailers and no one’s really ever taken advantage of having those odd jobs looked at.”
— Dan Cahill, Jim’s Mowing divisional owner, on the Jim’s Mowing podcast
So they’ve been broken out and named properly, one by one, so customers can actually see them and ask for them. The new ones worth knowing about:
- Bin service. Your bins go out to the nature strip and come back in again after the truck’s been. It sounds small. For anyone who isn’t steady on their feet, who travels for work, or who just can’t wrestle a full green bin down a steep driveway, it isn’t small at all.
- Firewood delivery. Available through franchisees set up for it, usually the ones running a tipper trailer.
- Log splitting and wood chopping. For the customers with a pile of rounds sitting where a neat stack should be. Your franchisee needs a log splitter and franchisor approval for this one, so availability depends on your area.
- Christmas, party and solar lights. Hanging Christmas lights, running party lights, installing the little solar lights along the front path. Book this one early, because December fills up fast.
Not every franchisee turns on every service. That’s deliberate, so nobody gets handed a job they’re not properly set up for. The quickest way to find out what’s available near you is simply to ask.
The little extras that come standard
Plenty of odd jobs never make it onto an invoice at all.
“I have a rule within my business, and it’s called the 1% rule. Every time we turn up, we need to find one thing to make the place better than when we started. And it’s not what we quoted. It’s just one thing.”
— Scott, Jim’s Mowing franchisee on the Sunshine Coast, on the Jim’s Mowing podcast
In practice that’s blowing down a section of path that was a bit off, pulling the tufts of grass out of the gutter along the kerb, or wheeling the bins back in if they’ve already been emptied. One of our Bayside Melbourne franchisees puts an elderly customer’s bins out every second Tuesday when he mows, simply because it saves her doing it. None of that gets charged.
When to ask for what
Odd jobs have a season, and asking at the right time of year means the job gets done when it actually matters.
- Late winter and early spring. The big catch-up window. Garden cleanups, mulching, pruning, and getting beds back under control before growth takes off. Mowing slows through the cold months, which is exactly why our franchisees keep the visits going and fill them with this kind of work. Our guide to winter mowing in Australia explains how that year-round rhythm works.
- Before summer. Gutters cleared ahead of fire season, long grass slashed back, weeds knocked down before they seed.
- November and December. Christmas lights, party lights, and a tidy before the relatives arrive.
- Before winter. Firewood in, wood split and stacked, gutters cleared of autumn leaf fall.
- Any time there’s an inspection or an open house. Rental inspections, end-of-lease cleanups, pre-sale tidies. If you’re at that point, our piece on end-of-lease lawn restoration is the useful read.
Why hand the odd jobs over at all?
Because small jobs are the hardest ones to get anybody out for. Try booking a trade for half an hour of work and most of them can’t make the numbers stack up. Meanwhile the job sits there.
Your local Jim’s franchisee is already coming to your place, so adding a job to a booked visit costs you a phone call. And you’re dealing with someone who’s police-checked, insured with $10 million public liability, and accountable to a system rather than a mobile number that might stop answering.
There’s a limit, and we’d rather be straight about it. Anything needing a licensed trade sits outside what your mowing franchisee can do. Ask anyway, because most know who’s worth calling in their area, often another part of the Jim’s Group. Our Jim’s gardening services page covers the broader maintenance work.
If you’d rather not think about any of it, a regular arrangement handles the lot. The visit stays the same, the work inside it changes with the season. Our comparison of lawn care subscription vs casual booking walks through how that works, and if you’re arranging it for an older parent or someone on a support plan, start with our guide to NDIS and senior lawn care.
How to ask for one
Already a regular customer? Tell your franchisee on the next visit or send them a message. They can usually look at it while they’re there and give you a price on the spot.
Not a customer yet? Call 131 546 or book online, and your local Jim’s will call you back within two hours, usually a lot sooner. There’s no fixed price list for odd jobs, because a gutter clean on a single-storey home in Geelong and a full green-waste clearout in Cairns aren’t the same job. You’ll get a quote for your property before anyone starts.
Frequently asked questions
Anything outside the four walls of your house. Gutters, green waste, pressure cleaning, mulching, hedges, bins, firewood, lights, sprinklers, and plenty of one-offs that don’t fit a category. If you’re not sure, ask. The worst outcome is being told it’s not our patch.
No. Plenty of odd jobs are booked as one-offs by people who’ve never had us mow. That said, if your franchisee is already coming fortnightly, adding a job to an existing visit is the easiest way to get it done.
It depends on the size and condition of the job, and on what needs to be taken away. Green waste and tip fees vary between councils, which is why quotes are done per job rather than off a price list.
No, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Your mowing franchisee handles the outside-the-house work. If your job needs a licensed trade, say so anyway, because most franchisees know who to send you to.
Often, yes. Small jobs get done on the spot. Bigger ones get quoted and booked for a separate visit with the gear or trailer space the job needs.
Get your list looked at
Got a list? Read it out. Your local Jim’s gardening services franchisee will work through the odd jobs around your place properly the first time, from the gutters to the green waste to the bins. Call 131 546 for a free, no-obligation quote, or book online to find your nearest Jim’s.
