Hedge-cutting - why is it so expensive??!!

[wax lyrical]

...i.e. asking 'professionals' to do the job. I've been quoted £280 to cut back some cherry laurel hedges and other mixed hedge at the front of my property. both sides and top.

Approx. 30 metres of hedge. South Bucks area.

I have dodgy elbows so can't do it myself, unfortunately.

[megaphone]

Get some more quotes. Sounds topy but things aren't cheap anymore, labour, vans, tools, insurance, fuel, licences, all add up. Are they taking the waste away?

Plus it's the busy time, so they can up their charges and pick and choose, they have to make money now to cover the quieter winter months.

[Huzzah]

Depends how overgrown.

2 blokes 1/2 day plus disposal, doesn't sound bad.

[HTP99]

Is it expensive though when you have to factor in what's involved:

1. time
2. equipment cost and maintenance
3. training
4. insurance
5. cost of licences
6. I would imagine 2 people minimum for safety and insurance reasons
7. proper disposal of cuttings
8. convenience

I guess you could do it yourself.........

[DonkeyApple]

wax lyrical said:

...i.e. asking 'professionals' to do the job. I've been quoted £280 to cut back some cherry laurel hedges and other mixed hedge at the front of my property. both sides and top.

Approx. 30 metres of hedge. South Bucks area.

I have dodgy elbows so can't do it myself, unfortunately.

Seems to be a pretty normal day rate for labour in the Home Counties.

The person who does it properly will have a load of taxes and admin costs, empty days to cover, equipment to pay off, insurances and waste disposal charges etc and the chap people used to pay £50 cash to turn up with a stolen trimmer and a shaved monkey to push the trimmings into a pile has wisened up to the fact that they can charge near full professional rate just by decorating a van and wearing false teeth.

I think the key is that if you're going to pay professional rates then at least absolutely confirm they're professionals.

[trickywoo]

I was expecting you to say £800+

That sounds fair enough if they do a good job.

[essayer]

wax lyrical said:

South Bucks area

[RicksAlfas]

Assuming they are taking the waste away with them, that sounds OK to me and I'm from Yorkshire!

[FlyVintage]

Mine charges £150 for about the same length of hedge (Kent). A 2 hour job for 2 of them but disposal of the tidied up clippings is down to me and my garden waste bin (which takes 2 or 3 cycles).

If yours includes disposal, then it doesn’t sound too far off.

[DonkeyApple]

RicksAlfas said:

Assuming they are taking the waste away with them, that sounds OK to me and I'm from Yorkshire!

A true Yorkshireman would want paying for someone to come and take their valuable leaves.

[anonymous-user]

Pic of said hedge?

[Sheepshanks]

wax lyrical said:

...i.e. asking 'professionals' to do the job. I've been quoted £280 to cut back some cherry laurel hedges and other mixed hedge at the front of my property. both sides and top.

Approx. 30 metres of hedge. South Bucks area.

I have dodgy elbows so can't do it myself, unfortunately.

How tall is the hedge?

I felt properly ripped off when my wife asked a friend to send their pet tree surgeon round to top a small tree at the front of our house that a neighbour was mithering about. He charged £200 then did the whole job in 45 mins.

[dxg]

Limited window in which they can actually do it (nesting birds and all that...), so high demand vs limited supply.

[fido]

Just had two quotes for block-paving cleaning, repairing a section and sealing with the finest polymeric sand. Both are nearly double from two years ago! Doing all my own gardening this year.

[OutInTheShed]

dxg said:

Limited window in which they can actually do it (nesting birds and all that...), so high demand vs limited supply.

It's peak nesting season now, and it's a criminal offence to disturb an active nest.
So you either have to be be very careful, or not care at all.

It's a job pro's don't want to know, because there is a high chance of the customer not liking the outcome when they find a nest, or neighbours will give them grief. Competent people sort things out in winter, so this time of year the most you need to do is a light trim of new growth which won't disturb any nests.

As with all these jobs, factor in the fact that people get three quotes, two contractors have wasted an hour to not get a 4 hour job.

[Silvanus]

I charge half that, but I do it as a hobby job. That quote doesn't actually sound too bad to be honest.

Cherry laurel is awful stiff anyway, why don't you swap it out for a slower growing native hedge than needs less maintenance long term.

[Belle427]

Sounds cheap to me if all waste etc is being removed too.

[Simpo Two]

There must be some lad you could pay £10 an hour to, and let him use your cutter. But the work gets difficult if there's lots of woody stuff to cut. And as said the clippings have to be gathered and removed - unless you have a compost heap?

[Nick_MSM]

Sounds fair to me.

[bunchofkeys]

That sounds ok OP, that's a lot of hedge to cut, clean up and take away.