Overgrown Hedge Rescue
For the hedges that have gone a bit too far, tall, wide, leggy, leaning over next door. We bring them back to size gently, so they come back green.
More than a trim. Less than tree surgery.
If your hedge has had a few summers off, it doesn't want another quick trim, it wants someone who'll look at it, work out what it'll take, and stage the work properly.
Most calls we get for this go something like: "It was fine last year. Now it's over the fence, taking the light off the patio, and I can't even see the lawn." Sound familiar?
Here's the thing, different species recover differently from a hard cut. Get it wrong on a leylandii and you'll be looking at a brown wall for the rest of its life. Get it right and you'll have a proper hedge back within a summer. We know which is which.
A rescue, not a rush
Most overgrown hedges get done over one or two visits. Here's the thinking behind it.
1. We come and look
Before we quote anything big, we pop round. Five minutes, a tape measure, a chat about what you want it to look like.
2. We talk it through
You get a plan. What's coming off, when, what it'll look like the day after, and what it'll look like next summer. All on paper, all before you commit.
3. Reduction & reshape
Height and width brought back. Tapered so the base gets light. Dead wood cleared from inside. All done with the species' tolerance in mind.
4. Follow-up (if needed)
For tricky conifers, we split the job across two seasons. That way the hedge recovers between cuts and comes back healthy.
The bit nobody else tells you
A hedge that's been hard-reduced looks lean for the first month or two. There's no way round that. A few bare bits showing, the line a bit rough, that's normal.
Give it one proper growing season and it comes back in. By the following summer most people can't even tell it was touched. That's the whole point.
A word on leylandii
Cypress hedges (leylandii, Thuja, Lawson) don't regrow from bare brown wood. If it needs a big reduction, we'll stage it over two years, always staying inside the green. That's the difference between a hedge that recovers and one that never does.
Rescue FAQs
Can you fix a really big leylandii?
Most of the time, yes, but we won't take it back hard in one go. Leylandii won't regrow from the bare brown wood inside, so we stage the work over two seasons, always staying inside the green. It's slower, but the hedge survives.
My neighbour's side is a mess. Can you do both?
Only with their permission. By law, you can only cut up to the boundary. In practice, most neighbours are pleased and will let us in to finish the far side properly. We're happy to knock on the door and ask for you.
How long does a rescue take?
Most single-garden rescues are one or two days. Bigger jobs with a follow-up the next year are spread out on purpose. We give you a clear timeline before we start, no open-ended "it depends".
Will there be a lot of mess?
There's a fair pile of clippings with any rescue job, that's the nature of it. It all goes in the van. Sheets down, rake out, blower, final sweep. You won't find cuttings in the borders three weeks later.
Is it covered by the High Hedges Act?
Not your own hedge, no. The High Hedges Act only kicks in when someone else's hedge is blocking your light. We've got a plain-English guide to hedge heights and neighbour law that covers the whole thing.
Not sure it's saveable? Send a photo.
We'll have a look and tell you honestly, whether it's a one-day rescue or a two-season job.