Hedge cutting
Hedge cutting across the Wirral.
A hedge is cut to a line, not to a length. Getting the top level and the sides slightly battered, wider at the base than the top, is what keeps light on the lower growth and stops a hedge going bare at the bottom.
Priced after photos or a visit, not over the phone.
What is included in a garden visit
- A line run along the top before anything is cut
- Sides cut with a batter, wider at the base
- Checked for active nests between March and August
- Ground sheeted before we start
- Clippings lifted and taken away
- Cut to your boundary only
What is involved
How a hedge is actually cut.
Most of the skill is in the setting out. A hedge cut by eye wanders, and once it has wandered it takes a season to get back.
We cover the whole of the Wirral for this, including Caldy, Greasby and Moreton. Tell us your postcode and we will confirm the detail for your street.
01
Setting the line
A line is run along the top before anything is cut, because a hedge follows the ground and the ground is rarely level. On a long run the line is what stops the top dipping in the middle.
02
Sides and batter
Cut slightly wider at the bottom than the top. It looks wrong on paper and right in the garden, because it lets light reach the lower growth instead of shading it out.
03
Species matters
Privet, beech and hornbeam take a hard cut. Conifer, and leylandii in particular, does not regrow from old brown wood, so cutting back past the green is permanent. We say where that limit is before we reach it.
Species by species
What each hedge takes, and what it will not forgive.
The single most expensive mistake in hedge cutting is taking a conifer back past the green. This is the short version of what each common Wirral hedge will and will not do.
| Hedge | Best cut | Times a year | Hard cut? | Watch for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Privet | Trimmer, any time in growth | Two or three | Yes, regrows from old wood | Grows fast, needs the frequency | |
| Beech and hornbeam | Trimmer, late summer | One, sometimes two | Yes | Holds brown leaf through winter by design | |
| Leylandii and conifer | Trim green growth only | Two | No, will not regrow from brown | Cutting past the green is permanent | |
| Laurel | Secateurs or loppers, not a trimmer | One or two | Yes | A trimmer shreds the big leaves and they brown | |
| Hawthorn and mixed native | Trimmer, autumn or winter | One | Yes | Nesting season runs March to August |
Priced after photos or a visit. No obligation.
On the day
How a hedge cut actually runs.
-
Check it for nests
Between March and August a hedge is looked through before anything is started. An active nest means that section is left and we come back, which is the law rather than a preference.
-
Sheet the ground
Sheets go down along the whole run first, so clippings come up in one lift instead of being raked out of borders, gravel and lawn afterwards.
-
Run a line
Along the top before cutting. A hedge follows the ground and the ground is rarely level, so a top cut by eye dips in the middle of a long run and takes a season to correct.
-
Sides first, then the top
Cut with a batter, wider at the base than the top, so light still reaches the lower growth. Sides before top means the top is cut to a crisp finished width.
-
Lift and go
Sheets gathered, the base of the hedge and the border underneath raked out, and the clippings loaded and taken away.
Why the shape matters
A hedge cut square at the sides goes bare at the bottom.
A hedge is a stack of plants competing for light with itself. Cut it with vertical sides, or worse with the top wider than the base, and the upper growth shades everything beneath it. The bottom thins, then goes bare, and a bare hedge bottom does not grow back quickly because there is nothing left there to grow from.
The fix is a batter: sides that lean in slightly so the base is wider than the top. It looks wrong described in a sentence and completely normal in a garden, and it is the difference between a hedge that stays thick to the ground and one that becomes a green roof on bare stems.
The other half of it is knowing what a species will forgive. Privet, beech, hornbeam and laurel will all regrow from old wood, so a neglected one can be brought back hard over two or three seasons. Conifer will not. Cut a leylandii back into the brown and it stays brown, which is why the honest answer to an overgrown leylandii is often that it wants replacing rather than reducing.
Get in touch
Get a price today.
Two ways to start, whichever suits you. Both reach the same person.
- Send us photos on WhatsApp Two from the back door, plus your postcode. Open WhatsApp
- Call 07359 877410 Monday to Friday 8 to 6, Saturday 8 to 2. Call now
What happens next
- You send photos or call
- We reply within one working day with a price
- You pick a day and we agree access
- We do the work and take the green waste
Good questions
Hedge questions.
A hedge cut once or twice a year sits naturally alongside a mowing round, or inside a full maintenance schedule. Lawn mowing and edging, Garden clearance, Regular garden maintenance.
When is the best time to cut a hedge?
It depends on the species. Privet takes a cut any time it is growing, beech and hornbeam prefer late summer, native and hawthorn hedges are cut in autumn or winter. What matters more than the ideal month is not cutting during nesting season without checking.
Can you cut it during nesting season?
Only after checking, and only where there is no active nest. It is an offence to damage one. Between March and August we look through a hedge first and will leave a section and come back in September rather than risk it.
How short can you cut my leylandii?
Back to the green and no further. Conifer does not regrow from old brown wood, so anything cut into the brown stays brown permanently. If it has already outgrown its space, reducing it usually means accepting a brown face or replacing it.
Do you take the clippings away?
Yes. Hedge work makes an enormous volume of material, far more than people expect, and it is sheeted as we cut so it comes up in one lift. Leaving it bagged for your own green bin costs less if you would rather.
How tall can you work?
From the ground and from a tripod ladder, which covers most domestic hedges. We do not work off a hedge itself, off a stepladder on soft ground, or at heights that want a platform. Anything above that is a different trade.
Can you cut my neighbour's side?
Only if they have asked us as well. You are entitled to cut growth that crosses onto your side, and we cut to the boundary, but going over it without permission is trespass and we will not do it.
My hedge is bare at the bottom, can it be fixed?
If it is privet, beech, hornbeam or laurel, usually yes, by reducing the top and sides over two or three seasons so light gets back down to the base. If it is conifer, no, and we will tell you that rather than take the money.
How often does it need doing?
Privet wants two or three cuts a year to look sharp, most other hedges one or two. A single cut a year on a fast hedge means it is always either just done or badly overgrown, with not much in between.
04 / Local to you
Hedge cutting, town by town.
Each one sets out what the housing there is like and what that means for this job.
Get in touch
Tell us about the garden and we will price it.
Rough size, what is in it, and how often you want it seen to. Two photos from the back door get you a firmer number than anything you can type.