Hedge cutting that fits through the gate
Most hedge-cutting rigs are set up for big arable boundaries — a heavy tractor and a reach arm that needs half the field to turn around in. That’s no use on a horse paddock with a narrow gateway, a garden boundary backing onto grazing, or a single-track Hampshire lane. I run a McConnel PA3430 reach-arm flail on a compact tractor, which means I can get to hedges that bigger contractors turn down: tight entrances, soft ground, awkward corners and roadside frontage where you need to work around traffic.
Typical jobs are field and paddock boundary hedges, hawthorn and blackthorn that has got away over a few seasons, roadside hedges that need a visibility cut, and the annual maintenance trim that keeps a hedge thick, stock-proof and tidy. Flail cutting mulches the trimmings as it goes — on most jobs there’s nothing to cart away.
When hedges can — and can’t — be cut
The main hedge-cutting season runs from September to the end of February. Between March and August hedges are full of nesting birds, and it’s an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act to damage an active nest — so routine cutting stops for the spring and summer. Land in agri-environment schemes usually carries the same March-to-August restriction as a condition. If you want berries left for winter birds, a January or February cut is the sweet spot: the hedge is dormant, the ground is usually firm enough, and you start the season tidy.
Not sure whether a hedge needs a trim or something more drastic? Overgrown, gappy or dying hedges are usually recoverable if you catch them early — I’ve written about how to spot an unhealthy hedge and the kit I use for hard-to-reach hedges.
What it costs
Hedge work is quoted per job rather than per metre, because the price depends on more than length: how many seasons of growth are coming off, whether both sides and the top need doing, access, and whether there’s anything hiding in the hedge line (wire, posts, dumped rubble) that needs working around. Send me a few photos and rough measurements and I’ll usually have a price back to you the same day.
