Bringing overgrown hedges back into proportion.

When reduction is the right call

• The hedge is over the 2m height that triggers neighbour high-hedges complaints
• It's growing into the upstairs windows or onto the roof
• It's shaded out half the garden behind it
• It's leaning across the path or the neighbour's boundary
• A 1970s Leylandii has hit 6-8m and become an annual liability

How reduction differs from cutting

A routine cut takes off the year's growth. A reduction takes the hedge back into older wood — sometimes by 1m, sometimes by 3m. Different species handle this very differently:

• Yew, holly, hornbeam, beech, privet — handle hard reductions well. Will regenerate from old wood. Best done in late winter (February).
• Leylandii, thuja, cypress — do not regenerate from brown wood. If you cut back past the green needle-bearing zone, that face stays brown forever. Reduction is possible but it is a planning job, not a sawing job.
• Cherry laurel — handles hard reduction but looks rough for 18 months while it regenerates.

We tell you honestly at the quote stage how much you can take off and how the hedge will look during the recovery period. A hedge halved in height in February is bare for a season; by August it has regrown a foot of new green and looks healthy again.

Staged reductions

For mature Leylandii that has outgrown its position, we usually recommend taking the height down in two stages a year apart — first cut to 4m, allow new growth to fill out the sides, then drop to final height the following winter. Costs more in total than a one-shot reduction, but the hedge survives. One-shot hard reductions on Leylandii past green growth often kill the plant.

Conservation-area work

Reduction work is much more likely to trigger the section-211 notice than routine cutting — once you are cutting back into older wood, you are frequently above the 75mm-at-chest-height threshold. We file the notice on your behalf six weeks before the work, included in the quote. Read the CA rules explainer.

Pricing

Reduction jobs are quoted per job, not per hour. Most domestic reductions in Canterbury fall in the £300 – £900 range depending on length, height, species, and access. Big mature Leylandii reductions can be more — staged where needed.