TL;DR — Hedge Removal Cost At A Glance
- Most UK households pay £200–£700 to have a garden hedge removed in 2026. A short ornamental run starts around £150; a mature leylandii boundary over 20m can pass £1,200.
- Removal is a different job from trimming, and costs three to five times more. Trimming cuts the hedge and leaves it alive; removal means felling it, grubbing out the roots and getting several cubic metres of arisings off site. If you only want it cut back, our hedge trimming cost guide is the page you want.
- Priced per linear metre with the roots grubbed out, expect £20–£40/m for a hedge under 2m and £35–£60/m for anything over 3m outside London, with London and the South East roughly 20–35% higher.
- Leaving the roots in saves about half the cost — and often costs you later. Cutting to ground level is £10–£22/m; privet, laurel and most broadleaves will simply grow back.
- There is no statutory date range for a garden hedge — but there is an offence. It is illegal to intentionally damage or destroy a bird's nest while that nest is in use or being built, whenever in the year that happens, and the penalty is an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison. The 1 March–31 August ban is a legal requirement only for agricultural hedgerows, under the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024. Have your hedge checked for active nests before any spring or summer work.
Add to Preferred Sources How Much Does Hedge Removal Cost In 2026?
Start with the distinction, because it is where most of the price confusion lives. Hedge trimming is a cut with a hedge trimmer, an hour or two of work, a few bags of clippings, and a hedge that is still there — £70–£220 for a typical domestic run. Hedge removal is felling the whole thing, digging out or grinding the root plate, filling the trench and disposing of the lot. It takes half a day to two full days, generates a van-load or more of green waste, and often needs a machine.
That is why removal quotes look expensive next to trimming quotes. You are paying for three things trimming never involves: the roots, the volume, and the making-good afterwards.
| Unit of sale | Rest of UK | London & South East |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum charge / half-day call-out | £120–£220 | £160–£290 |
| Cut to ground level only, per linear metre (hedge under 2m) | £10–£22 | £13–£29 |
| Full removal including root grubbing, per linear metre (under 2m) | £20–£40 | £26–£52 |
| Full removal including roots, per linear metre (2–3m high) | £27–£47 | £35–£61 |
| Full removal including roots, per linear metre (over 3m or conifer) | £35–£60 | £45–£78 |
| Small hedge — up to 10m long, 1–2m high | £200–£400 | £260–£520 |
| Medium hedge — 10–20m long, 2–3m high | £400–£700 | £520–£910 |
| Large hedge — over 20m long or over 3m high | £700–£1,200+ | £910–£1,560+ |
| Two-person team, per day | £250–£460 | £320–£600 |
| Green waste disposal, per van load | £60–£150 | £80–£195 |
Hedge Removal Cost By Hedge Type
Species matters more than people expect, because it decides how the roots come out and how much material there is to shift. A 15m privet hedge and a 15m leylandii hedge are not remotely the same job. Figures below are for a typical 10–15m domestic run, felled, grubbed out and taken away.
| Hedge type | Typical height & root habit | Rest of UK | London & South East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box or low ornamental | Under 1m, shallow fibrous roots, minimal waste | £150–£300 | £195–£390 |
| Privet | 1.5–2m, fibrous and shallow, easy to grub by hand | £150–£400 | £195–£520 |
| Beech or hornbeam | 2–3m, dense fibrous root plate | £200–£450 | £260–£585 |
| Conifer (non-leylandii) | 2–4m, deep roots, high volume of arisings | £250–£500 | £325–£650 |
| Hawthorn or blackthorn | 2–3m, thorny — slow to handle, needs full PPE | £250–£500 (estimate) | £325–£650 (estimate) |
| Laurel | 2–3m, heavy woody root plate, suckers from cut roots | £300–£550 (estimate) | £390–£715 (estimate) |
| Leylandii | 3–6m, roots 2–3m deep, very high arisings volume | £300–£700+ | £390–£910+ |
Leylandii is the outlier and deserves a caveat: MyBuilder puts it at £300–£600+, but PriceMyGarden reports an average of £500–£1,000 for a leylandii hedge, because tall conifer runs behave like a row of trees rather than a hedge. If yours is over about 4m, price it as tree work using our conifer and leylandii removal cost guide, which also covers the high-hedge and boundary-dispute angle.
What Affects The Cost Of Hedge Removal?
1. Hedge Height And Length
Height is the dominant driver, ahead of length. Doubling the length roughly doubles the price; doubling the height more than doubles it, because a 4m hedge means working at height, chainsaws instead of trimmers, and three or four times the material per metre. Published bands move from £100–£300 for a hedge under 1.5m to £700–£1,200+ once you pass 3m or 20m.
2. Whether The Roots Come Out
This is the biggest choice you make. Cutting to ground level is £10–£22 per metre and is quick. Grubbing out the root plate roughly doubles that, because it means digging a trench along the whole run, cutting through roots, and disposing of soil-contaminated material that green-waste facilities charge more to take. Individual stumps are quoted at £50–£150 each for grinding or grubbing. On a hedge you are usually paying by the metre instead, but the same arithmetic applies.
3. Species And Root Habit
Privet lifts out with a fork. Laurel has a woody plate that fights back and suckers from any root left behind. Leylandii roots run two to three metres deep, which is why they are grubbed rather than dug. Hawthorn and blackthorn are not deep-rooted but are slow to handle safely, and the labour cost is in the handling.
4. Volume Of Arisings And How They Leave The Garden
Disposal is often the largest single line on the quote. A 15m conifer hedge at 4m high is several cubic metres of brushwood even after chipping. A man-and-van load is £60–£150, a large load £150–£300, a 6–8 yard builders' skip £190–£450 depending on region, and a grab lorry £200–£500. Council green-waste subscriptions at £35–£90 a year only help if you can wait months and cut everything to bin size. Our garden clearance cost guide covers disposal volumes in more depth.
5. Access For A Digger, Chipper Or Grab Lorry
If a 1.5-tonne mini-digger can reach the hedge line, root removal on a long run gets much cheaper — hire is £125–£200 a day, or £50–£120 a day for a smaller machine, plus £10–£30 delivery. If the only route is through the house, everything is hand-dug and barrowed, and the job can take twice as long. Terraced properties with no side gate are the classic expensive case.
6. Your Location
London and the South East run roughly 20–35% above the rest of the UK. A gardener's two-person day is £320–£600 there against £250–£460 nationally, skip hire for an 8-yard skip is £330–£450 against £250–£320 in the north, and a skip on the road needs a council permit at £15–£75.
What's Included — And What's Not
A standard hedge removal quote covers:
- Felling and cutting down the hedge to ground level
- Grubbing out or grinding the root plate, where the quote says so
- Chipping the brushwood on site
- Raking out and backfilling the trench line
- Removing the green waste, where stated
- A basic tidy of the working area
Charged as extras:
- Stump grinding of individual tree-sized stumps in the run — £50–£150 each
- Mini-digger or stump grinder hire — £50–£200 a day plus delivery
- A skip instead of a van load — £190–£450, plus £15–£75 for a road permit
- Soil-contaminated root material, which tips at a higher rate than clean green waste
- Imported topsoil and levelling where the trench has to be made good — £100–£300
- Chemical stump treatment on species that regrow — from around £11 for a 250ml bottle treating up to eight stumps
- A replacement fence along the line — £50–£100 a metre for panels, £100–£150 for close-board
- Turfing or reseeding the strip afterwards
- Out-of-season work in December to February, which one contractor prices 10–15% above autumn rates because of weather delays
Can You Do It Yourself?
DIY stops making sense in three places. Anything over about 2.5m means working at height with a chainsaw, which is how people lose fingers. Leylandii and mature laurel root plates are beyond hand tools — the roots are deep, woody and often tangled into drains or a neighbour's foundations. And a hedge on a boundary may not be entirely yours to remove; if the hedge line is shared, or you are not certain which side of the boundary it sits, get that settled before anything is cut, because a removed hedge cannot be put back.
One genuinely free alternative: if the hedge is only too tall rather than unwanted, a hard reduction is far cheaper than removal, and evergreen species other than conifers will regrow from old wood.
How To Save Money On Hedge Removal
- Book September to November. It is outside the bird nesting season, the ground is still workable, and one contractor prices December to February 10–15% higher because of weather delays.
- Keep the chip. Waiving disposal takes £60–£300 off a quote, and chipped conifer makes acceptable path mulch or a base layer under a new bed.
- Decide the roots question deliberately, not by default. If a fence or shed is going on the line, the roots must come out. If you are replanting a bed 2m away, cutting to ground level and treating the stumps with £11 of brushwood killer may be all you need.
- Combine it with other work. The call-out, the chipper and the van are the fixed costs. Removing the hedge on the same visit as a clearance, a felling or a fence installation spreads them.
- Get the digger question answered before you take quotes. If side access is wide enough for a mini-digger, say so in the enquiry — some firms price hand-digging by default and will not ask.
- Join the Fantastic Club if you use more than one garden service a year — members get preferential rates, priority booking and £300 in credits.
How To Hire A Good Hedge Removal Contractor
Get the specification in writing, and make sure it says whether the roots are coming out. "Remove hedge" is the single most common source of dispute — one side means fell it, the other means grub it out and level the ground.
Check insurance. For chainsaw work at height, the Arboricultural Association recommends a minimum of £5 million public liability plus employers' liability, and NPTC or Lantra Awards chainsaw certification is compulsory rather than optional. For a low hedge and a mattock, a general gardener's public liability cover is enough.
A proper quote states the length and height of the run, whether roots are grubbed or ground, who disposes of the arisings and how, whether the trench is backfilled and levelled, whether VAT is included, and who has checked the hedge for active nests if the work falls in the nesting season.
Red flags: a price quoted from a photograph with no measurements; no mention of disposal; a firm happy to start work in June without inspecting for nests; and anyone willing to remove a boundary hedge without asking who owns it.
Book Your Hedge Removal Today!
Getting rid of a hedge you have stopped wanting reclaims more space than most people expect — often a metre of border along the whole boundary. Fantastic Services can fell it, grub out the roots, take the waste away and leave the line ready for a fence, a bed or turf.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Does It Cost To Remove A 10 Metre Hedge?
For a hedge of 1–2m high, £200–£400 outside London and £260–£520 in London and the South East, including root removal and waste disposal. At 2–3m high the same 10m run is £270–£470, and over 3m it is £350–£600. Cutting to ground level without removing roots costs roughly half.
Is It Cheaper To Cut A Hedge Down Or Dig It Out?
Cutting to ground level is about half the price — £10–£22 per metre against £20–£40 for full removal. But most broadleaved hedges regrow from the stumps, so unless you treat them with a brushwood killer you are back where you started in two seasons. If a fence, shed or paving is going on the line, the roots have to come out anyway.
Do I Need Permission To Remove A Hedge?
In a domestic garden, usually not. The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 protect countryside hedgerows at least 20m long on agricultural, common or forestry land — and explicitly exempt a hedge that is in, or borders, your garden. Removing a protected hedgerow without notice carries an unlimited fine in either court — the £5,000 magistrates' cap still quoted in a lot of council guidance was removed in March 2015. Check separately whether any tree in the hedge has a Tree Preservation Order.
When Is The Best Time Of Year To Remove A Hedge?
September to November — for practical reasons, not legal ones. A garden hedge has no statutory closed season. What section 1(1)(b) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits is intentionally taking, damaging or destroying the nest of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built, at any time of year, punishable by an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison. The 1 March–31 August ban covers agricultural hedgerows under the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024. Birds nest most heavily in spring and summer, so have the hedge inspected first if you cannot wait.
Will A Removed Hedge Grow Back?
If you leave the roots, very probably. Privet, laurel, hawthorn and beech all regrow from cut stumps, and laurel suckers from severed roots. Leylandii and most other conifers do not regrow from old wood, so cutting to ground level kills them. Where regrowth is likely, either grub the roots out or treat the cut stumps immediately — a 250ml bottle of stump killer costs around £11 and treats up to eight stumps.
How Much Does It Cost To Remove A Leylandii Hedge?
£300–£700+ for a 10–15m run outside London, and more if it is tall. PriceMyGarden reports £500–£1,000 as an average for a leylandii hedge, because the roots run two to three metres deep and the volume of arisings is several times that of a privet hedge of the same length. Anything over about 4m is priced as tree work.
What Happens To The Ground After The Hedge Is Gone?
You get a trench line of loose, root-filled soil, usually poorer than the rest of the garden because the hedge has been taking from it for years. Making it good is a separate cost: expect £100–£300 for topsoil and levelling, plus turfing or seeding if you want lawn. Factor it in before you decide, because a bare strip looks worse than the hedge did.
Fantastic Services Hedge & Garden Prices 2026
| Service | Standard price | Fantastic Club price |
|---|---|---|
| Tree surgery (tall hedge and conifer removal) | from £99 | from £90 |
| Gardening team of two, first hour | £83 | Preferential member rate |
| Gardening team of two, each subsequent hour | £65 | Preferential member rate |
| Green waste, single black bin bag | £5 | £5 |
| Green waste, jumbo bag | £55 | £55 |
Hedge removal is quoted after a survey, because length, height, root habit and access decide the price. Fantastic Club membership includes £300 in credits and preferential rates on every booking.
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