How to hire
Match the person to the job first. A gardener or landscaper owns the routine trim: both faces, the top, and a tidy finish on hedges you could reach with steps. A tree surgeon owns the tall stuff: conifer reductions, hedges above ladder height, and any cut needing climbing gear or a platform. Our table splits the same way, so shortlist one of each where the hedge is tall and compare them on the same scope.
Mind nesting birds before anyone lifts a trimmer. The main breeding season runs roughly from March to August, and trimming or cutting hedges in that window can harm wild birds. Every wild bird, nest and egg is protected by law, and it is an offence to damage or destroy a nest while it is in use or being built [4]. Walk the hedge first, and if you find an active nest, put the cut off until the young have fledged.
There is no mandatory register for hedge cutting, so read qualifications as stated claims and check what you can. Two firms in this round state NPTC qualifications on their own websites, and one states trade accreditation alongside. Where tree work is involved, search the business name in the Arboricultural Association's find-a-professional directory and check the listing that comes back matches the firm you are hiring [2]. A logo on a van proves nothing on its own.
Settle the waste question in the quote, not on the day. Whoever carries your clippings away needs the right registration, so search the business name on the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers and check the entry matches [3]. Firms carrying other people's green waste sit in the upper tier. Agree whether the price includes removal or leaves you with the pile, and get it written down.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same scope: which faces are cut, the finished height, the length covered, waste removal, and whether VAT sits on top or inside the figure. Each quote should name the start date, access arrangements and how the tidy-up is handled. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what is included or left out.
Ask for the insurance position in writing before anyone starts. Most established firms state their cover, and several in our table do. Where a crew works at height or near boundaries and parked cars, written cover matters more. If a firm will not name its insurer or put cover in writing, weigh that against the price before you agree anything.
On the day, walk the cut with the crew before they pack up: straight top, both faces even, bases cleared and paths swept. Pay only when the cut and the tidy-up match the written scope, and keep the quote and the invoice together with any waste paperwork. If the hedge hides a nest mid-cut, stop that section and agree when to return.
Where you live in the borough shapes the job. The older streets around Wellington, Dawley and Madeley bring small front hedges and boundary privet, while the newer estates around Lawley bring young, fast-growing boundary screens needing early shaping. Around Ironbridge and the Severn Gorge, steep banks and the conservation-area setting ask for a steadier hand, and on the rural fringe a field hedge may fall under countryside protection rules rather than garden routine [5] [9].
The council's waste service softens what is left behind. Hedge clippings go in the green bin on the free year-round collection, extra cuttings go out in clear biodegradable sacks beside the bin, and larger loads can go to either recycling centre, open every day [7]. An additional green bin costs a one-off £25 charge [7].
Permissions matter more on some streets. Eight conservation areas sit inside the borough, including Wellington and the Severn Gorge, and works to trees inside them need six weeks' notice to the council so it can weigh whether protection is needed [9]. Where the job touches trees, such as a reduction beside a mature specimen or a boundary line grown into one, check the council's position before the crew starts, and never let anyone cut a protected tree to make the hedge easier [9].
A typical job runs the same course whatever the firm. First contact carries photos, hedge lengths, heights and the waste question; the visit or survey turns that into a written quote; you agree the date, access and parking; the cut happens on the agreed date, then you walk both faces with the crew, check the tidy-up, and pay against the invoice with the paperwork kept together. Where a nest turns up mid-cut, that section stops until the young have fledged [4].
The written quote is the whole job on one page: which faces are cut and to what height, the length covered, waste removal, the VAT position, the start date and how the tidy-up is left. The paperwork at the end matches it: an invoice on the same scope, the waste carrier detail where clippings left your garden, and any insurance or qualification papers you were shown, kept together in case of questions later.
Pricing
As of summer 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this: trimming around £90 an hour within £60 to £120, and around £120 an hour where height calls for climbing equipment within £100 to £140 [1]. Removing a hedge costs roughly £100 to £250 for a small run and £250 to £400 for a large one [1]. These are ballpark survey figures that exclude VAT, and most jobs take between one and three hours [1].
Height and length move the price most: anything above ladder height needs access equipment and more time, and long boundary runs multiply the labour [1]. Species and density come next, with fast-growing conifers costing more than a light annual trim of privet. Whether the clippings are taken away adds a waste charge, so check if removal sits inside the figure.
None of the ten firms in this round publishes rates, so your quotes carry the pricing detail. Several offer free quotes and one starts from a free site survey, which gives costs a clear starting point. Ask each firm whether VAT sits on top of the figure, since published ranges exclude it [1], and treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer.
Get the scope in writing before work starts: which faces and what finished height, the length covered, waste removal, the VAT position, and what changes the price if the hedge proves taller or denser than described. Agree when the crew attends and how the tidy-up is left, and keep every quote and invoice together.
Job by job, national survey figures reviewed in June 2026 put a small hedge under ten metres at £60 to £150, a medium run at £120 to £300, and a large or tall hedge with waste included at £250 to £600, with around £120 typical and Midlands figures matching the average [10]. A routine annual trim of privet or beech sits at the bottom of that ladder, a long boundary run in the middle, and conifer height reduction at the top as specialist work: read Telford quotes against that ladder.
Waste is the swing factor between two similar quotes. Grubbing out and removing a small hedge runs £100 to £250 and a large one £250 to £400 in summer 2026 survey figures [1], while keeping the clippings for your own green bin or compost costs nothing beyond the effort on the council's free collection [7]. Where the crew takes cuttings away the price should say so; where it does not, agree what stays and where the pile goes.
Red flags
Cuts a hedge in nesting season without checking for active nests first.
Prices a tall boundary hedge without visiting or asking for photos and measurements.
Will not say who carries the clippings away or give a waste carrier registration you can check [3].
Names no insurer and will not put cover in writing.
Asks for full payment before the cut is finished and the waste is gone.
Offers to grub out a countryside boundary hedge without checking the protection rules first [5].
Starts work with no written scope covering price, waste removal and timing.
Quotes one fixed price for every hedge whatever its height, length or waste load.
Starts work beside protected trees with no mention of the council notice period [9].