Hedge trimming: what it costs per metre

Hedge trimming: prices per metre at a glance

The price per metre applies to hedges up to about two metres tall and is measured along the hedge. It covers both sides, the top and raking up the clippings. Removal is a separate item because the amount varies a lot: a shaping trim on a well-kept hedge fills a few sacks, a cut-back after years fills a trailer.

Which price applies to your hedge depends on its condition. Young means: it is cut every year, the shoots are thin, the shape is still there. Overgrown means: two or three years without cutting, woody shoots, often ivy or brambles in the middle of it. Heavy cut-back means: the hedge is taken back by half a metre or more in height or width — that is a job for the saw, no longer for hedge shears.

Worked examples: 10, 25 and 50 metres of hedge

Most requests come with a length and the question of what it will cost in the end. Three typical cases from Leipzig gardens, each excluding green waste:

The same 50 metres as an annual shaping trim cost 50–100 €, and if overgrown 150–200 €. The cheapest way to a dense hedge is therefore not to let it become overgrown in the first place: one cut a year costs less than a cut-back every five years.

Removal of the green waste comes on top, at 20–50 €/m³. Two cubic metres of green waste cost, for example, 40–100 €; how much it comes to for you, we can tell from the photos.

What the price depends on

• Condition — cut every year or left to grow for years. Thick, woody shoots take several times as long
• Height — the price per metre applies up to about two metres. Above that, ladder work is added, and we then charge by the effort involved
• Access — whether you can get at the hedge from both sides, or it stands right against a fence, behind flower beds or on a slope
• Type of hedge — privet and hornbeam are quick to cut, cherry laurel takes longer if it is to be cut cleanly with hand shears
• Green waste — whether it stays with you on the compost heap, or we take it away

Within 50 km of Leipzig we charge no travel — so none for Markkleeberg, Taucha or Schkeuditz; for longer distances travel is part of the total price. We give a fixed price after seeing photos: the hedge from the front and from the side, plus the approximate length.

Per metre, per square metre or per hour?

Quotes for hedge trimming come in three forms. They can only be compared once you convert them to the same basis.

• Per running metre — this is how we charge. You pace out the hedge or measure it with a folding rule, and the price is fixed
• Per square metre of hedge surface — the surface area that is cut is what counts: length × (2 × height + width)
• Per hour — usual for mixed garden jobs, with us 30–45 €/hr — a sensible choice when nobody can say beforehand how long it will take

When are you allowed to cut a hedge?

The Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz) protects hedges during the breeding season. From 1 March to 30 September it is prohibited to cut hedges down, cut them back to the stump or remove them (§ 39 para. 5 BNatSchG). Light shaping and maintenance trims that only remove the new growth remain permitted.

Even with a permitted shaping trim, an occupied bird’s nest stays where it is. Before cutting we look into the hedge and leave that section out if birds are nesting there — species protection requires this all year round.

For the plant, two times are ideal: the main cut around St John’s Day (Johannistag) at the end of June, once the first flush of growth is finished, and, for fast-growing hedges, a second one in late summer. Heavy corrective cuts belong in winter, on a frost-free, dry day. From October, that is exactly the time.

A hedge next to the neighbour: what applies in Saxony

How close to the boundary and how tall a hedge may stand is regulated in Saxony by the Neighbour Rights Act (Nachbarrechtsgesetz) of 4 July 2023. Within a built-up district — so practically everywhere in Leipzig — the following applies under § 8 SächsNRG:

• At least 0.5 m distance from the boundary for every hedge
• At least 2 m distance if the hedge is taller than 2 m
• Measured from the boundary to the centre of the hedge, where it comes out of the ground (§ 12)
• No distance rule for hedges behind a wall or an opaque fence, as long as they do not grow above it, and at boundaries with public areas (§ 11)

If your hedge stands one metre from the boundary, it may therefore grow two metres tall at most. If it grows beyond that, the neighbour can demand that it be cut back or removed — which of the two is for you to decide (§ 13 para. 1). Between 1 March and 30 September you do not have to comply: the law adopts the protected period (§ 13 para. 2).

This is not legal advice. But anyone who keeps their hedge on the boundary permanently under two metres has no problem with this rule — and an annual shaping trim does exactly that.

Which hedge tolerates which cut

• Privet, hornbeam, field maple, beech — robust. They also tolerate a heavy cut-back and sprout again from old wood
• Cherry laurel — tolerates heavy cut-back. Leaves cut through by a powered trimmer turn brown, so for screening hedges it is better to use hand shears
• Yew — the only conifer that can take a cut right back into old wood
• Thuja, false cypress, Leyland cypress — cut only in the green zone. Where it is brown, nothing grows back
• Boxwood — check for box tree moth before cutting. Clippings from infested plants do not belong on the compost heap

And for all of them: do not cut in blazing sun. Fresh cut surfaces and exposed inner sides scorch, an overcast day is ideal.

Removing a hedge: what it costs

Removing a hedge completely costs 5–20 €/m, depending on height and stem thickness. For 20 metres that comes to 100–400 € plus green waste removal. Whether the root stumps have to come out too, we clarify beforehand: if a fence or lawn is to go in that spot, they have to come out, and that is usually more work than the sawing itself.

Removal also falls under the protected period and is prohibited between 1 March and 30 September. Anyone who wants a new fence in spring should therefore have the old hedge taken out by the end of February.

Green waste: have it taken away or take it yourself

We take the green waste away for 20–50 €/m³ — that covers loading, the drive and drop-off. If you have a trailer, you will get off cheaper: the Wertstoffhöfe (recycling centres) of Stadtreinigung Leipzig (the city’s waste service) accept garden waste in exchange for a Wertmarke (token) of 0.70 € per 100 litres. We say so openly, even though we earn nothing from it.

From 1 January 2027, the Wertmarken will only be available digitally in the Stadtreinigung app; green waste can then also be paid for by card at the Wertstoffhöfe. The sites will still accept paper tokens until 30 June 2027.

Deducting hedge trimming from your tax

Hedge trimming in your own garden counts as a household-related service (haushaltsnahe Dienstleistung). Under § 35a EStG you deduct 20% of the labour costs directly from your tax, with relief of up to 4,000 € per year. The requirements are an invoice on which the labour costs are shown separately, and payment by bank transfer — what is paid in cash does not count.

Our invoices show labour, removal and travel separately. This is not tax advice; in case of doubt, your tax adviser can tell you whether and how much you can deduct.

How it works

• Send photos — the hedge from the front and from the side, plus the approximate length. By WhatsApp or e-mail
• Fixed price — usually the same day, with removal if you wish
• Appointment — usually within two to three days. We schedule heavy cut-backs between October and February
• Cutting — with our own hedge shears, ladder and saw. Paths and lawn are raked and swept afterwards
• Invoice — with labour costs shown separately for the tax deduction

On request we come twice a year on a fixed date, together with the lawn, leaf removal and, in winter, the winter service. An overview of all garden jobs can be found on the page Garden care in Leipzig.