Home › Hedge Maintenance
Tree Masters Hertfordshire provides hedge cutting and hedge maintenance throughout the county, helping customers keep boundary hedges, garden hedges and overgrown screening neat and manageable.
Call 07388 094829.
Call 07388 094829 for a quotation, or message us on WhatsApp.
Hedge Maintenance Services
- Hedge trimming
- Hedge height reduction
- Hedge width reduction
- Reshaping overgrown hedges
- Boundary hedge maintenance
- Hedge work as part of garden clearance
When Hedges Can and Cannot Be Cut
Timing matters more with hedges than with almost any other garden job, and for a legal reason rather than a horticultural one.
Nesting birds are protected. It is an offence to damage or destroy the nest of a wild bird while it is in use or being built. The main nesting season runs roughly from March to August, so that is the period when hedge cutting needs care — and where a nest is found, the work stops until the birds have finished.
That does not make summer hedge work impossible. It means a hedge is checked before a trimmer goes into it, and that heavy reduction work is generally better planned for late summer through to the end of winter. Light formative trimming of a well-used garden hedge is a different matter from cutting a mature boundary hard back.
What Different Hedges Will Tolerate
Hedge species differ enormously in how hard they can be cut, and getting this wrong is how people end up with a permanent bare patch.
- Beech and hornbeam. Tolerate reduction well and will regrow from older wood. Hold their brown leaves through winter, which is why they are so common as screening in Hertfordshire
- Privet, hawthorn and blackthorn. Very tolerant. Can be cut back hard and will come again
- Yew. The exception among conifers — it will regenerate from old wood, so an overgrown yew hedge can usually be brought back
- Laurel. Vigorous and forgiving, though it is better cut with secateurs or a hedge cutter than shredded, because torn large leaves brown off and look poor for weeks
- Leylandii and most conifers. The important one. Conifers other than yew will not regrow from bare brown wood, so anything cut back past the green will stay bare permanently. There is a limit to how far a neglected leylandii hedge can be brought in, and it is worth being told that before the work rather than after
Height, Width and the High Hedges Rules
Where a hedge is causing a genuine problem between neighbours there is a formal route. The high hedges provisions in the Anti-social Behaviour Act deal with evergreen or semi-evergreen hedges of more than two metres that are affecting the reasonable enjoyment of a neighbouring property.
It is a last resort rather than a first move: the council will expect to see that the neighbours have tried to settle it between themselves, and there is usually a fee. In practice, most of these situations are resolved by the hedge simply being reduced and then kept at a manageable height, which is far cheaper for everybody.
The practical target for most boundary hedges is a height you can maintain from the ground, and a top cut slightly narrower than the base so light reaches the lower growth. A hedge that is wider at the top shades itself out and goes bare at the bottom.
Overgrown Hedges and Staged Reduction
A hedge that has not been touched for years is usually better brought back over two or three seasons than in one go — one side or one face at a time, letting it recover in between. That applies particularly to a hedge that is being reduced in width as well as height.
Where a hedge is beyond recovery, saying so is more useful than cutting it and hoping. Sometimes the honest answer is removal and replanting, and a new hedge establishes faster than people expect.
Keeping On Top of It Afterwards
Most garden hedges want cutting once or twice a year; fast growers such as leylandii and privet want more. Once a hedge has been brought back to a manageable size, keeping it there is a much smaller job than reclaiming it again, and it is worth agreeing a rough interval rather than waiting until it is a problem.
Recent Hedge Maintenance Projects
Recent hedge and shrub jobs across Hertfordshire, each with its own page of photographs.
Hedge Maintenance Advice Centre
Our advice centre answers the questions Hertfordshire property owners ask before arranging this kind of work.
Hedge Maintenance — Specific Jobs
Each of these has its own page covering what the work involves and what drives the price.
Hedge Maintenance Across Hertfordshire
Every town below has its own hedge maintenance page covering the ground conditions, property types and access that shape the work there.
Other Tree Masters Hertfordshire Services
Hedge Maintenance Frequently Asked Questions
Do you cover all of Hertfordshire?
Yes, including towns and surrounding villages across the county.
Can you reduce very tall hedges?
Yes, subject to the hedge, access and agreed work.
Can you reshape an overgrown hedge?
Yes.
Do you handle boundary hedges?
Yes.
Can hedge work be combined with garden clearance?
Yes.
Do you work for landlords?
Yes.
Can I request a one-off hedge cut?
Yes.
Do you provide quotes?
Yes.
What information should I send?
Photos and the property location are useful.
How do I book?
Call 07388 094829.
Get a Quote for Hedge Maintenance
Tell us what needs doing across Hertfordshire and we will quote for the work. Call 07388 094829, message us on WhatsApp or use the form below.