Hedge cutting is quoted per job. Length is the number people give first and it is the least useful of the six things that decide how long the work takes.
The six factors
- Length. The starting point.
- Height. The step up comes where the job needs a platform rather than a step ladder.
- Width, and whether the faces are done. Both faces plus the top is roughly three times the work of topping alone.
- Species. Soft growth cuts quickly; dense conifer and old woody stems do not.
- Time since the last cut. The biggest variable on a neglected hedge.
- Access and disposal. Whether a chipper reaches it or the arisings go out by hand.
Shared boundaries on estates
Worth its own note in Redditch, because so much of the housing is estate-built with boundaries that run between properties in continuous lines rather than in individual garden-sized sections.
It is worth a conversation with the neighbours either side, particularly where the hedge is a shared boundary and everyone has the same problem at the same time. It also produces a better result — a single continuous cut to one line, rather than three sections at slightly different heights.
The first cut versus the maintenance cut
| Time since last cut | What the job is |
|---|---|
| Within a year | Routine maintenance — quickest and cheapest |
| Two to three years | Heavier trim; the old cutting line is still findable |
| Four years or more | Reclamation — far more material, line usually lost |
| Never properly cut | A reduction project, priced as one |
Be straight about which you have when you ring. It costs nothing to say and it means the quote you get is the price you pay.
The width matters more in a small garden
A hedge cut only on top puts on a few inches of width a year. In a large garden that is a slow nuisance. In a small Redditch garden, a foot on each face over a decade can be a noticeable proportion of the usable space.
Where the savings are
- Booking annually rather than rescuing it every few years.
- Getting neighbours on the same boundary done at the same time.
- All your own hedges in one visit rather than one at a time.
- Combining hedge work with tree work or clearance.
- Keeping the chip if you have a use for it.
- Being flexible outside the late-summer rush.
What to have ready when you ring
- Roughly how long, in fence panels if that is easier than metres.
- Roughly how tall, against a door, window or shed.
- What it is, if you know — a photograph settles it.
- When it was last properly cut, honestly.
- Whether you want the faces done as well as the top.
- Whether a vehicle can get near and whether a chipper can reach.
One thing that is not a cost factor
Height, legally speaking. There is no maximum lawful height for a hedge in England — two metres is the threshold at which a neighbour may complain to Redditch Borough Council about an evergreen hedge blocking light or access, not a limit you must keep to. Even then the council cannot order it below two metres or order it removed.
(Redditch Borough Council remains the authority for that until 1 April 2028, when it is replaced by North Worcestershire Council.)
Want a free quote on your hedge in Redditch?
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.
More Redditch Hedge Maintenance Guides
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