Cutting a hedge back properly is a different job from trimming it, and it is priced as one. What it costs depends on how much comes off — but what is *possible* depends on something else entirely, and that is worth settling first.
The question that comes before the price
What is the hedge made of? Nothing else matters as much.
| Species | Cuts back into old wood? |
|---|---|
| Yew | Yes — recovers reliably |
| Beech & hornbeam | Yes |
| Hawthorn & blackthorn | Yes |
| Laurel | Yes — vigorously |
| Privet | Yes |
| Holly | Yes, but slowly |
| Leylandii, Lawson, thuja | No |
The Redditch complication
Conifer hedges were planted very heavily in the post-war decades, and a new town built during that period got a great many of them. Because they went in at the same time, a lot of Redditch conifer hedges have been growing for roughly the same number of decades.
Which means the green-depth question is more often the deciding one here than in an older town with more mixed and broadleaf boundaries. It is worth checking before you collect quotes.
The check
Push a hand into the hedge — the top and each face separately — and find how far in the green goes before it turns brown.
| Green depth | What's realistic |
|---|---|
| 12in or more | Substantial reduction available |
| 6–12in | A useful reduction, especially on top |
| 3–6in | A modest trim rather than a reduction |
| Under 3in | Reduction not really available |
The top nearly always has more green than the faces, because it gets more light. So height reduction is usually more achievable than width — and it is the width that returns garden space, which is the frustrating part.
What drives the cost
- How much comes off, in height and — more expensively — width.
- The volume of arisings. The big one. A long hedge reduced by two or three feet produces a genuinely large amount of material.
- Access for disposal. Whether a chipper reaches the hedge or everything is carried out by hand.
- Working height — whether a platform is needed.
- Stem thickness. Old woody growth is slow going.
- What runs along the base. Borders, sheds and fences.
Price it as a one-off
Comparing a reduction quote to a routine cutting price is comparing two different jobs. A reduction brings the hedge back to a size you can then maintain normally, and the annual cutting afterwards is a fraction of the cost.
Across ten years, one reduction plus nine annual cuts comes out well ahead of three reductions — and the hedge is the size you want it throughout rather than for a few weeks after each visit.
Timing
Hard renovation on broadleaf hedges belongs in late winter, before growth starts — the hedge then has the whole season to recover and looks bare for one summer rather than two. If it is currently midsummer, waiting costs nothing and gives a noticeably better result.
Conifer work within the green is more flexible and suits late summer, when the cut holds its shape through the winter.
On nesting birds: it is not an offence to cut a hedge during the season. The offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is intentionally damaging or destroying a nest while it is in use or being built. The hedge is checked before the machine starts and any occupied section waits.
If reduction is not available
On a conifer hedge with almost no green left, the honest options narrow to living with it and cutting annually so it stops getting worse, taking the height only, or removing and replacing.
If replacement is the route, beech, hornbeam, yew or laurel all recover from hard cutting, so the same situation does not recur in twenty years. And check what the hedge is screening first — a boundary fence is generally limited to two metres under permitted development.
Got a hedge that needs bringing back?
Tell us what it is and roughly how big. We'll tell you what's achievable and arrange a free quotation.
More Redditch Hedge Maintenance Guides
Also in Redditch
Hedge Maintenance in Redditch →
Tree Surgery in Redditch →
All hedge maintenance guides →