Hedge trimming in Cotmanhay, Ilkeston. Privet, laurel, conifer and beech hedges cut back neatly, shaped properly and cleared away afterwards.
Most Cotmanhay gardens have at least one hedge doing a job - screening a road, marking a boundary or hiding a shed - and most of them only get noticed when they have grown a foot too tall. A hedge cut regularly stays dense and tidy; a hedge left for three years goes bare at the bottom and thick at the top.
Timing matters. Most hedges in Cotmanhay are best cut in late summer and again lightly in spring, and any hedge is checked for nesting birds before work starts, because disturbing an active nest is against the law. Autumn is the ideal time to catch up on a hedge that got away over the summer.
The shape matters as much as the height. A hedge cut slightly narrower at the top than the bottom lets light reach the lower branches, which is what keeps the base from thinning out. Straight tops are set to a line rather than done by eye, and the faces are cut back evenly on both sides where access allows.
Everything cut comes away with us. Clippings are raked out of the base of the hedge and off the lawn and borders, and the garden in Cotmanhay is left tidier than it was when we arrived.
Overgrown hedges can be brought back over a couple of seasons rather than in one hard cut, which gives the plant the best chance of filling in again. A lawn that stays wet, a hedge that has gone woody at the base, or a fence leaning under the weight of a shrub are worth looking at before the next season makes them worse.
Every hedge checked for active nests before any cutting starts.
Slightly narrower at the top so light reaches the base.
Tops set to a line rather than cut by eye.
Cut evenly on each side when there is access.
Raked out and taken away, not left in the borders.
Reduced over a couple of seasons rather than in one brutal cut.
Late summer and early autumn for the main cut, with a light trim in spring once nesting has finished.
Yes, usually in stages so the hedge recovers and fills in rather than dying back.
Yes, all clippings are cleared and removed.
Yes, though conifers do not regrow from bare wood, so they are reduced carefully.
Only if you want both faces cut. We can arrange it or just do your side.
Once or twice a year for most hedges, more often for fast growers like privet.
Cotmanhay, Ilkeston and nearby.
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