Hedge trimming in Epsom

Privet, laurel, beech and conifer hedges cut neatly, with nests checked before we start.

Hedge trimming in Epsom covers a real mix. Around Stamford Green the council’s appraisal describes boundaries as hedging, brick walls and timber fencing side by side, while elsewhere it’s often privet at the front and conifers at the back. Each one wants cutting differently, at a different point in the year.

We plan the main cuts for September to February, outside the nesting season, and check every hedge for nests before a trimmer goes near it. Laurel is cut with secateurs so the leaves don’t brown at the edges. All the cuttings leave with us.

Front hedges along a street, cut in one visit

Hedge cutting season in the UK, and what it means in Epsom

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it’s an offence to damage or destroy an active nest, and birds nest in hedges roughly March to August. Gardens backing onto Epsom Common sit beside a nature reserve of oak and birch woodland, so a boundary hedge there is prime nesting ground. A light summer trim is usually fine once we’ve checked it over. The reductions and the hard cuts wait until autumn and winter. If we find a nest, we leave that hedge alone and come back.

Can you trim a hedge too much?

Yes, and conifers are where it usually goes wrong. Leylandii won’t regrow from bare brown wood, so cut past the green and that face stays dead for good. We only ever trim conifers within the green growth. Yew is the exception and will reshoot from old wood. Beech and hornbeam want one cut a year, in August, which lets beech hold its brown leaves through winter. Privet is the opposite. It grows fast and takes two or three cuts a season to stay sharp.

Hedge Trimming in Epsom: your questions

Anything else, just ring. You’ll speak to the people who do the work.

How much does hedge trimming cost in Epsom?

It depends on the length, height and type of hedge, how overgrown it is, and whether we need access equipment. We’ll come and look, then give you a fixed price with the waste removal included.

My leylandii boundary is huge. Can you bring it right down?

We can reduce the height and width, but only as far as there’s green growth to cut back to. If it needs felling or heavy work in the canopy, that’s a job for an arborist, which we’re not. We’ll tell you honestly which side of the line it falls.

Do you take the cuttings away?

Every bit. We bag the trimmings, take them away and sweep up, so there’s no heap left on the drive.