The Hood County Brush Yard on Weatherford Highway in Granbury does one job and does it cheaply: it takes natural brush, tree limbs and leaves, and nothing else. For anyone in the Granbury area clearing storm damage or a large garden, it is far cheaper than a landfill trip, but it will turn away a mixed load without hesitation.

Fees are charged by what you arrive in. A pickup is $10.00. Trailers are $10.00 up to 8 feet, $20.00 over 8 and up to 14 feet, $30.00 over 14 and up to 18 feet, and $50.00 for anything longer. Dump trucks are $40.00 up to 10 yards and $50.00 above that. Payment is cash or cheque only — no cards are taken, which is the detail most likely to send someone away empty-handed.

The material rules are strict. Tree limbs, brush and leaves must be free of dirt, barbed wire, other metals, trash and rubbish. Nothing but natural brush and limbs is accepted, which specifically excludes tyres, household garbage, lumber, construction debris, landscape fabric, furniture and appliances. Logs are taken up to 15 inches in diameter and 16 feet in length; anything bigger must be split or cut before it will be accepted. Stumps with root balls are refused outright. If you arrive with an enclosed trailer, or one with permanent side rails, you will be directed to a designated area and expected to unload it yourself.

Opening hours are the tightest of any facility we list: Wednesdays only, 8am to noon. That is four hours a week, so a trip needs planning around it.

There is a return benefit. Coarse and fine mulch produced from the yard's own material is available to take away. The yard is run by Hood County Road Operations, on (817) 579-3304; note that the county's separate Citizens Collection Station on Bray Street handles household waste and recycling and does not take brush at all.