Who to hire for a hedge to trim

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a gardener or landscaper.

• your neighbour

  the hedge is on or over the boundary. Cutting the face on their side without agreement is a dispute waiting to happen even where you are entitled to.

What to do before anyone arrives

1. 1Decide the finished height and width and mark it. 'Tidy it up' produces whatever the contractor thinks tidy looks like.
2. 2Check for nesting birds. Trimming a hedge with an active nest in it is both unpleasant and, for protected species, potentially an offence.
3. 3Check what the hedge is. Some species do not reshoot from old wood, so a hard cut back is permanent.
4. 4Agree who takes the clippings.

What to ask when you book

• How far back can this species be cut without leaving bare wood?
• Is green waste removal included?
• How often does this need doing to keep this shape?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

• Length and height of the hedge.
• Access, particularly on a boundary or over a fence.
• Species and how much material is coming off.
• Waste volume.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Not licensed. Work at height and near power lines brings real obligations regardless.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

• NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
• VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
• QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
• WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
• SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
• TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
• ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
• NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a hedge to trim

A gardener for a hedge you could reach from a step ladder. An arborist once it is well above head height, over a fence line, or near power lines — at that point the risk profile and the insurance requirement change even though the plant is the same.

Can I cut my neighbour's hedge on my side?

The general common-law position across Australia is that you may cut back to the boundary at your own expense, and that the cuttings belong to the owner. Council tree protection can override that for protected species, and a conversation first avoids a great deal of trouble that the legal position does not prevent.

Who to hire for

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