What decides the cost of hedge trimming
Hedge work is priced by the job, not the hour, and the price follows a handful of things you can see in a photo. We don't publish a price list because a light trim of a kept 1.8 m murraya and a two-day rescue of a 5 m lilly pilly screen are not the same job; send the photo and you'll get a real number.
The six things that set the price
- Length and height. The two numbers that matter most. A 20 m hedge at 4 m has twice the face of one at 2 m.
- How overgrown it is. A tidy-up takes off centimetres; a reduction takes off metres, and the hard cuts are saw work, not shears.
- Species. Lilly pilly and murraya cut fast; conifers must be trimmed carefully within the green; bamboo is thinned culm by culm.
- Height off the ground. Anything past a ladder means an elevated work platform, which adds a day rate but makes a tall screen quick and even.
- Access. Front-yard hedges along a driveway are quick; back-fence hedges behind a pool or down a narrow side path take longer to work and to carry clippings out.
- The waste. A hard reduction produces a surprising volume. Chipped and taken away it takes truck space; left as mulch it costs nothing.
What you're paying for
Qualified arborists who know how far each species can be cut, safe work at height, $20 million public liability insurance, and a clean site when we leave. A hire hedge trimmer and a weekend is cheaper on paper; the brown patches on a conifer cut too far are permanent.
Ways to keep the cost down
- Trim before it runs away: little and often is cheaper per visit than a rescue.
- Group jobs: hedges and tree pruning on the same visit share the set-up.
- Keep the mulch if you can use it.
- Clear the access before we arrive.
Questions people ask us
Can I get a price from a photo?
For most hedges, yes: a photo showing the whole hedge, with its rough length and height and the suburb, is enough for a price. For very tall or awkward screens we'll come and look first, usually within 24 to 48 hours.
Is a regular trim cheaper?
Per visit, usually yes: a hedge trimmed before it runs away has less to cut, less to chip and no hard cut-back to recover from.
Do you charge by the hour or the job?
By the job, with a fixed price in writing before we start.
Why do quotes vary so much between companies?
Different equipment (an EWP versus a ladder), different insurance, and whether the clippings are removed. Compare what's included, not just the total.
Photo in, price out.
The whole hedge in the shot, its length and height, and the suburb.