Hedge maintenance is quoted per job, because length on its own tells you very little. Two hedges the same length can differ by a factor of three depending on height, width, species, how long they have been left — and, in Cheltenham more than most places, how sharp a finish is wanted.
The six things that set the price
- Length. The obvious one.
- Height. The step up comes at the point the job needs a platform rather than a step ladder.
- Width. Both faces plus the top is roughly three times the work of topping alone.
- Species. Soft new growth cuts fast; thick woody stems and dense conifer do not.
- Time since the last cut. One year and five years are entirely different jobs.
- Access and disposal. Whether a chipper reaches it, or the arisings go out through the house.
The finish is a real cost factor
This is worth raising explicitly, because it is the one that most often goes unsaid and then causes disappointment. There is a genuine difference between a hedge that has been tidied and a hedge that has been finished.
| Finish | What it involves | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tidy | Growth off, roughly level, ends squared | Lower |
| Formal | Line and level worked to, true top, tapered faces, clean ends | Higher |
| Restoration | Re-establishing a line that has been lost | Highest |
What a good cut actually looks like
Three things separate a well-cut hedge from a merely cut one, and none of them are about how much comes off.
- A true top line. Worked to a line rather than by eye, so it reads straight from every angle.
- A slight batter on the faces. Marginally wider at the base than the top. This lets light reach the bottom, which keeps the base green instead of going bare and leggy.
- Square, deliberate ends. The detail that makes the difference between finished and stopped.
The width is where the money goes long-term
A hedge cut only on top puts on a few inches of width a year. Over a decade that is a foot or more on each face, and by then taking it back means cutting into old wood — which on a conifer means it stays brown permanently.
Regular beats occasional, and by a lot
A hedge cut annually to the same line stays the same size and keeps a dense face. A hedge cut every four years gets a little bigger each cycle, because each cut starts from further out than the last. Ten annual cuts cost less than three reclamation visits, and the hedge looks right for all ten years rather than for a few weeks after each one.
What to have ready when you ring
- Roughly how long, in metres or fence panels.
- Roughly how tall, measured against a door or window.
- What it is, if you know — conifer, laurel, beech, privet, yew.
- When it was last cut.
- Whether you want the faces done as well as the top.
- How sharp a finish you are after.
- Whether a vehicle can park nearby and a chipper can reach.
Want a free quote on your hedge in Cheltenham?
Tell us roughly how long it is, how tall, and what it's made of if you know. We'll arrange a free quotation based on the actual work required.
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