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The Direct Landscaping team cutting back a tall garden hedge

Cut back, chipped and taken away

Hedge cutting in Southampton and across Hampshire

Overgrown hedges cut back to a line you can actually manage, with everything chipped and gone the same day.

Most hedges we get called to have had a few quiet years. It started as a tidy boundary, then it took a metre of the lawn, then it started blocking the light, and now nobody fancies doing it from a stepladder.

We cut it back to a line that works for the garden and that you can keep on top of yourself afterwards. The arisings get chipped and taken away the same day, so you are not left with a mountain of clippings and a trip to the tip.

If the hedge has gone too far to save, we will tell you. Sometimes taking a run out and replanting or fencing it is the better answer, and we do both of those as well.

In detail

The hedge cutting work we take on

01Cutting back an overgrown hedge

Height, sides or both. We agree the line with you before anyone starts, because a hedge that has been left for years will look thin for a while once the outer growth comes off, and you should know that going in.

02Leylandii

Quick to grow and quick to get out of hand. The catch is that leylandii does not grow back from old brown wood, so cut it too far into the bare part and it stays bare. It can usually be brought down in height, but the sides need more care. We will show you where the line is.

03Taking a hedge out

If it is dead, dying or simply in the wrong place, we can take the whole run out, grind out what is left and put a fence or new planting in its place. That saves you ringing two firms.

04Nesting birds and timing

We check for nests before cutting anything, and from March to August that check matters most. It is an offence to damage or destroy an active nest under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so if birds are using the hedge the job waits.

Straight answer

What decides the price of a hedge?

Mostly length, height and how far it has to come back. After that it is access: whether the chipper can get close, or everything has to come through the house or along a side path. What is on the far side of the hedge matters too, such as a road or a neighbour’s greenhouse. We come out, look at it and put a price in writing, and the visit is free.

Get it priced properly

Hedge cutting questions

Things worth knowing before you book

When is the best time to cut a hedge?

Outside the main nesting season if you can, so roughly September to February. Work can still happen in spring and summer, but only once the hedge has been checked and there are no active nests in it.

Can you cut a hedge that has not been touched for years?

Usually, yes. Most evergreen hedges other than conifers, and most beech and hawthorn, will take a hard cut and come back. Leylandii is the exception because it will not regrow from bare wood. We will tell you what yours will take before we start.

Do you take the hedge cuttings away?

Yes. The arisings are chipped and gone the same day. It is included in the price we give you, not something added on at the end.

My neighbour’s hedge is too high. What can I do?

Talk to them first, because that fixes most of it. If that gets nowhere and it is an evergreen or semi-evergreen hedge over two metres, the council can look at it under the high hedges rules in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. You will need to show you tried to sort it out first, and councils usually charge a fee.

Can I cut back the part of a neighbour’s hedge that hangs over my side?

Generally you can cut what overhangs back to the boundary line, but no further, and it is much better to tell them first. If the plant is protected by a tree preservation order or sits in a conservation area, check with the council before anything is cut.

Free quote

Get your hedge cutting priced

Tell us roughly what you need and we will come out, look at it properly and put a price in writing. No charge for the visit.

Quicker on the phone07955 586555

We use your details to quote for the work and nothing else. No mailing list, no passing them on.

Where we work

Hedge cutting across Hampshire and the New Forest

Based in Southampton and out across the county most days of the week.

Southampton & suburbs

Eastleigh & Winchester

New Forest & the Waterside

Portsmouth & south east Hampshire

North Hampshire & the borders

  • Basingstoke
  • Andover
  • Whitchurch
  • Aldershot
  • Farnborough
  • Fleet
  • Hook
  • Hartley Wintney
  • Yateley
  • Blackwater
  • Bordon
  • Alton
  • Four Marks
  • Petersfield

Not seeing your town? The list is where we normally work, not a boundary. Ring and ask.

07955 586555

We also do

Need hedge cutting doing?

Tell us what needs doing and we will come and look at it. Free quote, in writing, no obligation at the end of it.

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