Service · Overgrown reclamation
This is the job for a hedge that has been left alone for five, ten, or twenty years: gappy at the base, leggy on top, half the height it should be at the bottom. Reclamation needs a plan, and the plan needs a cost attached to each stage.
Reclamation is quoted per stage rather than as one total, because the scope of stage two often depends on how the hedge responds to stage one. A typical two-stage reclamation runs £400 – £1,400 total across both visits.
| Stage | Typical cost | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Survey visit | £0 | Free assessment; confirms whether the hedge can be saved and how many stages it realistically needs |
| Stage one | £220–£750 | Structural cut-back, base thinning, removal of dead or crossing growth, winter window only |
| Stage two | £180–£650 | Follow-up shaping once regrowth has filled in, usually 10-12 months later |
Each stage is invoiced when completed, not paid up front. A hedge that responds well may need only stage one; a badly neglected hedge sometimes needs a third, smaller stage.
A hedge left for years has usually gone gappy at the base while the top has grown thick and heavy - the classic "lollipop on legs" shape. Cutting it all back to the target size in one visit shocks the plant and can kill sections outright, especially on conifer species. Splitting the work into stages, each timed to the plant's regrowth, gets a genuinely dense hedge back rather than a shorter version of the same gappy one. It also means you're never faced with one large invoice you weren't expecting - each stage is agreed and costed before it happens.
Always on every job
A proper job or you pay nothing 5% off for pensioners 10% off repeat jobs over £500Photos and postcode to hello@sittingbournehedges.co.uk or call 07763 100 477. Same-day breakdown in most cases.