Cost guide
How much does hedge cutting cost?
£60 to £150 is the common range for a standard domestic hedge, with £120 the figure quoted most often. London and the South East run £90 to £220 for identical work. By the hour, hedge cutting sits at £20 to £40 nationally and £30 to £50 within the M25.
Typical prices
Ranges, not quotes. A quote depends on your garden.
| Work | Typical UK price |
|---|---|
| Hedge under 1 metre, both faces and crown | £40 to £80 |
| Hedge 1 to 2 metres, worked from the ground | £70 to £130 |
| Hedge 2 to 3 metres, platform needed | £130 to £220 |
| Leylandii over 3 metres | £220 to £400 |
| Hedge 2 to 3 metres, London and the South East | £190 to £300 |
| Cuttings taken off site | £20 to £50 |
Access equipment explains much of the gap between quotes. On a three metre hedge, a firm that brings a tower, or hires one in, has costed £200 to £500 a day for it, so ask whether a lower price assumes ladder work.
What moves the price
- Height above two metres forces platform work and shifts the job into a dearer band.
- Run length, and whether both faces are cut or only the one facing your garden.
- Species, since leylandii and laurel take longer per metre than privet or beech.
- Cutting volume, which decides whether the waste fits in bags or fills a van.
- Region, with London adding roughly £10 an hour over rates quoted in Yorkshire.
Worth knowing
Cutting a garden hedge in June is not in itself unlawful. Destroying an active nest in it is, and so is injuring the birds with a flail, so the question is whether anybody looked first. March to August is guidance about when nests are likely rather than a statutory closed season.
RSPB and Defra guidance on hedge cutting and nesting birds
Who quotes for it
974 of the 4,012 gardeners listed on this site take on hedge cutting.
Where most of them are: Leeds (21), Birmingham (20), Glasgow (19), Aberdeen (19), Swindon (18).
Questions about hedge cutting
Who takes the cuttings?
Whoever you agree it with, at £20 to £50 on a standard hedge and £30 to £60 in London. Trimmings on their own fall under the free lower tier waste carrier registration in England and Wales, so a gardener holding it can take them away legally.
What if a tree has grown into the hedge?
Check it against the Tree Preservation Order register before anything is cut. Working on a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence, and since March 2015 the fine has been unlimited. Trees in an English conservation area need six weeks of written notice to the local planning authority.