"The garden looks better since you tidied it up.

[tufguy]

"The garden looks better since you tidied it up."

I am confused about this sentence. Is "since" working as because here or denoting time? But this kind of sentences usually have "present perfect" or "present perfect countinueous" like "You have been looking sad since you came here.

Please check.

 

[emsr2d2]

It denotes time.

You tidied the garden up and, since then, it looks better [than it did before you tidied it up].