Front screening hedge — brought back to a level line
The top had gone wavy and the faces were bulging out over the wall. Cut back to a dead level line with square ends, and the driveway swept down before we left.
Hedges · our specialty
Most of what we do is hedges.
Trimming, shaping and hard reductions across the Sutherland Shire and Sydney’s south. Hedges up to around four metres, cut properly, with every last clipping taken away with us.
Most single hedges land between $150 and $250. Quoted per job — never by the hour.
How we cut a hedge
Anyone can cut the outside. The work that matters happens inside the plant.
A hedge that only ever gets its outside trimmed slowly goes hollow — thick on the surface, dead and bare underneath. Here’s what we do differently.
We clear the dead wood out of the middle
Before we shape anything, we get inside the plant and pull out the dead wood. That opens the hedge up so light and air reach the centre — which is exactly what it needs to push new growth from the inside out, instead of only at the tips.
We cut to the plant, not to the clock
A light seasonal tidy and a hard reduction are two different jobs needing two different approaches. We’ll tell you which one your hedge actually needs — and if it only needs a trim, we’re not going to talk you into a reduction.
The clippings leave with us
Hedge waste is bulky — one decent hedge can fill a green bin on its own and leave you with a pile on the lawn for a fortnight. We take it away as part of the job, or use your green bin if you’d rather. Your call, either way it’s handled.
You get told what the plant needs next
When to feed it, when to water it, when it’s due again. It costs us nothing to tell you and it’s the difference between a hedge that survives and one that thrives.
What we work on
The hedges in Sydney’s south, and how each one wants to be handled.
Most Shire front gardens run to the same handful of species, and they don’t all behave the same way under the blade. Some take a hard cut back to bare wood and reshoot happily. Others sulk for a season if you push them too far. Knowing which is which is most of the job.
- Murraya (orange jessamine)
- Buxus (box)
- Lilly pilly
- Photinia
- Viburnum
- Camellia
- Privet
- Bamboo screens
Not sure what you’ve got? You don’t need to know — send us a photo and we’ll tell you what it is and what it needs.
Two different jobs
A trim and a reduction are not the same thing.
This is the single biggest thing that moves the price, so it’s worth understanding before you get a quote from anyone.
The regular trim
Your hedge is already the size and shape you want it. We take it back to that line, tidy the faces, clear the dead wood and clean up.
Quick, straightforward, and the best-value way to own a hedge — because a hedge kept in shape never needs rescuing.
Usually the lower endThe hard reduction
The hedge has got away — too tall, too wide, straggly, or bare at the bottom. We cut it back hard, often well into bare wood, to reset its size and force fresh growth from low down.
It looks confronting for a few weeks. That’s normal and it’s the point — you’re trading a month of looking bare for years of a thicker, healthier hedge. We’ll tell you honestly if yours is a species that will take it.
Usually the higher endWhat sets your price: how tall it is and whether we need ladders, how long the run is, whether it’s a trim or a reduction, and how much clean-up comes with it. Most single hedges land between $150 and $250. You get the number in writing before we start, and it doesn’t move.
Taller than about four metres? Tell us and we’ll come and look at it first rather than guess over the phone.
One job, start to finish
Greg’s place, Cronulla — one reduction and two trims in a day.
A good example of why the two jobs get treated differently. Three hedges on the same property, all shot at 9am when we pulled up and again at half twelve when we packed the van.
The brief: “tidy up the hedges at the front.”
What Greg actually had was one hedge in genuine trouble and two that just needed their regular cut. We told him which was which before we started anything.
The driveway hedge — the one that needed rescuing
Hard reduction
This one had crept out across the driveway and gone straggly and hollow, with dead wood right through the middle. A light trim would have bought a season and made it worse. So on our advice it came back hard — dead wood out, size properly reset.
You can see bare wood in the “after”, and that is the job working, not a mistake. This species reshoots from old wood, so cutting into it forces dense new growth from low down instead of only at the tips. Give it a season and it comes back thicker than it was. Look at what else changed: Greg got the whole width of his driveway back.
The front entrance hedges
Regular trim
Healthy hedges, just overdue. Shaped back to clean lines and pulled off the steps and handrail — which matters more than it looks when someone’s carrying shopping up them.
The rear boundary hedge
Regular trim
Rounded and lumpy on top, spreading out into the lawn. Squared off with a flat top and straight faces, and the clippings cleared off the grass before we left.
Greg T. Cronulla · 11 August 2026 · the job pictured above“I employed Wyatt to tidy up the hedges at the front of my home. On his advice, he removed all dead wood and cut back hard the driveway hedge which was starting to look straggly.
He also suggested when to fertilize and water to encourage new growth and maintain healthy plants.
Wyatt arrived to the job on time and went about his work in a professional manner. The price was very competitive as well. I’ll definitely be using Louie’s again!”
How often
Most people cut their hedges too rarely, then panic.
A hedge on a schedule stays cheap. A hedge left for two years becomes a reduction job. Here’s what we actually recommend across the year in this climate:
| Time of year | How often | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Warmer months | Monthly at most | Growth is fast, so it needs keeping on top of — but monthly is as often as it benefits from. More than that and you’re paying for cuts the plant doesn’t need. |
| Cooler months | Every two months | Growth slows right down. Cutting on the same summer schedule through winter is wasted money. |
| End of winter | Annual reduction | The once-a-year hard cut back, timed so the hedge reshoots straight into the spring flush. Get this one right and the rest of the year looks after itself. |
Put it on a schedule with us and you don’t have to think about any of this — we turn up when it’s due.
Before & after
Real hedges, same day, no filters.
Every one of these was shot on the morning we arrived and again before we drove off.
Poolside screening hedge — height brought back under control
A tall hedge doing a real job: screening a pool from the neighbours. Trimmed back level and tightened up without losing an inch of the privacy it’s there to provide.
Boundary hedge — squared up, corners defined
Same property, round the side. Squared off along the fence line with the corner properly defined, and every clipping picked up off the lawn.
More of our work
Recent jobs around the Shire and Sydney’s south.
Send us a photo of your hedge.
That’s genuinely all we need to get you a price. Text it through and you’ll get a number back, in writing, with no obligation and no one turning up to sell you anything.