Hedge cutting and maintenance.
From an annual tidy to rescuing a leylandii that got away twenty years ago.
Most garden hedges need cutting once or twice a year to stay dense and in shape. Fast-growing conifers like leylandii need two cuts, in late spring and again in early autumn. Formal beech, hornbeam and yew are usually happy with one cut in late summer. All arisings are chipped and taken away as standard.
How often different hedges need cutting
Leylandii and other fast conifers put on up to a metre a year and need two cuts to stay under control. Privet is similar. Beech, hornbeam and yew are slower and hold their shape well from a single late-summer cut. Laurel is best cut with secateurs or a hedge knife rather than a flail, because shredded laurel leaves brown off and look terrible for weeks.
Keeping a hedge slightly narrower at the top than the bottom, what is called a batter, lets light reach the lower growth and stops the base going bare. It is the single most useful thing you can do for a hedge and almost nobody does it.
Reducing a hedge that has got away
A conifer hedge that has been left for years can usually be brought back in height, but not always in width. Most conifers, leylandii included, will not regrow from bare brown wood, so if you cut back past the green you are left with a brown face that stays brown. We will tell you honestly whether the hedge can be reduced or whether replacing it is the better spend.
Yew is the exception and will regenerate from old wood, which is why a neglected yew hedge can be cut hard back and recover completely.
Nesting birds and the law
It is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to damage or destroy an active nest. Hedges are the most likely place on any property to hold one. The main nesting season runs from March to August, so we check hedges before cutting during those months and will leave a section and come back if we find a nest in use.
The short version
Common questions
How high can a hedge legally be?
There is no fixed legal height, but under the High Hedges provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 a council can order a reduction of an evergreen hedge over two metres if a neighbour complains and it is affecting their reasonable enjoyment of their property.
Can I cut my neighbour’s hedge?
You may trim growth that crosses the boundary, back to the boundary line, but no further. The cuttings technically belong to your neighbour, so offer them back rather than tipping them over the fence.
When should I not cut a hedge?
Between March and August without checking for nests first, and in hard frost, which damages fresh cuts. Otherwise most of the year is workable.
Not sure if this is what you need?
Describe the tree and what is worrying you about it. We will tell you what the options are and roughly what each one costs, including the option of doing nothing.