If you've just moved into a new home with a large garden that is in need of some major work to make it usable, then you may feel like the project is a dauntingly large one. You may even feel as though you have no other options and will need to fork out a considerable amount of money to get the job done by a professional landscaping company.

Fortunately, there is another option that will spare you the expense. Hiring a mini-excavator with a few specialised attachments will help you to rapidly transform your garden with no back-breaking labour required. Here are two major tasks that a mini-excavator will handle in no time:

1. Leveling the garden surface

If your garden has a lot of different levels that make it a less than functional space, then creating an even and more usable surface is probably a priority. The thought of moving large volumes of dirt with a spade and a wheelbarrow may make you break into a cold, dread-filled sweat.

Using a bucket attachment, a mini excavator can dig out protruding areas, move the excavated dirt to a new location and smooth out the remaining surfaces with ease and speed. With this piece of equipment, you'll move more dirt in a few short hours than you could move over many long, hard days doing it by hand.

2. Removing unwanted trees and shrubs

If your garden is overrun with dead or dying trees and shrubs or an abundance of pest species, then clearing them all out is most likely a top priority. Removing these sorts of plants can transform your garden, both in terms of attractiveness and by radically increasing the usable space you have available.

Removing vast amounts of thick brush with hand-held tools or even a chainsaw is an arduous and difficult job that won't get done in a hurry. Using the ripper or grab attachments for the mini excavator enables you to make short work of this task, effectively ripping out trees and shrubs from the roots.

With these two large scale tasks completed, your previously wild and unkempt garden will be a tidy blank canvas and ready for the more enjoyable task of designing and planting. You can hire a mini excavator from any earthmoving equipment hire business and they can be delivered to your home. Mini excavators are easy to use and don't require any special training or licenses to operate them.