Trimming a laurel hedge

I have a fantastic Laurel along the back of my garden, it has grown to about 12 feet tall and I need to reduce it by a foot or 2. A local gardener quoted me a huge price to do it, so I was considering buying a hedge trimmer and doing it myself. Am I okay to just cut away at it? I was thinking that if I leave the branches a bit jaggered (and not a clean cut) they may be prone to disease.

Thank you very much in advance,
Carl.

 

Our next door neighbours have a 4 foot laurel hedge between the front gardens.
They cut it with an electric cutter about 3 times a year into a box shape .
It looks good.
They have had it there about 30 years with no problems.

 

Lyn your right again it's no problem useing a trimmer so cut awaycarlnorwich.

 

Thanks for your help, I look forward to taking a trimmer to it.

 

I have seen people be quite horrid to these hedges and they always come back ok. I wouldn't be too concerned. If its quite thick up top in terms of stems you are better off making clean cuts with a lopper or such and shaping the sides.

 

What were you quoted, Ill bet its actually realistic being that the cost of landfill is v high Hedge reduction isnt a particularly fast job either.

How long is the hedge and how wide?

This sort of job is one for a chainsaw and someone experienced, the wood will be FARR too thick for a hedge trimmer to cut. the cuts should be made cleanly, it will ree shoot and recover farr quicker.

 

Laurel will withstand some hard trimming, that's not a problem.
If you really want to take off two feet bear in mind that if you cut it now and it's growing normally it will put on two feet at least by the end of the summer.
Pro Guard makes a good point. if this hedge has been cut a few times at around its present height there will be thick branches in there you will have no chance of cutting with a trimmer.
With respect to landfill I shred laurel trimmings and it rots down perfectly well in to useful compost

 

I think Banana Man has the right idea use a lopper you can get one quite cheaply from wilkco's and your will be amazed how much fun you can have with one, you even might look around the garden for more jobs that 'need' doing......I must say it's one of the few tools Bob and I fight over to use!

Give it a go yourself as long as you have a car to ship the clippings to a local skip there really shouldn't be a problem and you will get quite a shock when the bare branches of your laurel start to re-shoot.Hel.xxx.

 

Thanks for the great advice from everyone. The laurel is about 10 or 12 feet high, and about 15 foot long. The local gardener wanted £120 cash. I have a skip at my house at the moment so the debris can go in there. The guy said it would take him 3 hours - £40 an hour, nice work if you can get it. As it may need doing twice a year I thought I'd invest in a hedge trimmer and now I know, a lopper too.

Thanks again.

 

£120 cash, mmmmm, maybe I am out of date with what to charge ? but that's a big wedge for a pretty easy 3 hours work ! :eek:

 

mmm, He must have superhuman powers to do it in three hours perhaps he was quoteing including a labourer to clear up.

For one man to do a quality job and allowing a lunch break and clear up time its more like 7-8 hours, Id of quoted £150 with no removal or £200 with.

As for working for cash and breaking the golden rule ie never state an hourly rate, the guy would seem very nieve.

 

If its anything like some of the companies I have seen doing tree/hedge maintenance round here recently , it's a middle aged bloke, a boy half his age, a van and a chain saw.:rolleyes:

 

Well I've got all the correct equipment now, I have a bank holiday ahead of me, I'll see how long it takes me and let you know. I'm sure I'll enjoy it and if it needs doing twice a year - I'm going to be saving a few quid.

 

This weekend I trimmed ny Laurel hedge, I checked the dimensions and it was 15 foot long and 12 foot high; I lopped 3 foot off the top and took the trimmer down the front. It took me under 4 hours. It was fortunate I had space left over in a skip I was using for building works otherwise it would have taken me about 20 trips to the tip. It was hard work but very rewarding. Thanks to whoever suggested I buy a lopper - it was essential. I would have been dissapointed if I'd have paid someone to do it - however, they would deserve a bit of danger money.