Hedge cutting is the second most common job posted through Emmerdale Agriculture this autumn, behind only paddock topping. It is also one of the hardest jobs to find a straight price for. Most guides give a figure per metre and leave it there.
The prices below are real. They are the full prices customers were shown for tractor hedge cutting jobs posted through the network between late September and mid October 2026: seven jobs and 27 separate prices from contractors in Cheshire, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Lancashire and Bedfordshire.
It is a small sample and we will keep updating it. But it shows how hedge cutting is actually priced, and why two contractors can look at the same hedge and come back with prices three times apart.
The short answer
- A couple of short hedges around a paddock (about 30 metres): £345 to £715, with a typical price around £500. At this size you are paying for the visit, not the metres.
- A 200 metre hedge: £275 to £1,320, with most prices between £385 and £690. Call it £2 to £3.50 a metre.
- A long run of 700 metres: most prices between £865 and £1,650, or roughly £1.25 to £2.35 a metre, with outliers either side.
- By the hour: the contractors who priced by time charged £60 to £75 an hour for a tractor, flail hedge cutter and driver.
The thing to understand is that a tractor-mounted flail cutter works at a steady pace once it is on site. The price is mostly the hours it takes, plus getting there. Short hedges carry a minimum charge. Long hedges are priced per hour or per metre, and the rate falls as the job gets longer.
Real prices, job by job
Each line is one job and every price it received, lowest to highest. "Both sides" means your side, the far side and the top.
- 30 metres, Hampshire: two overgrown hedges in a horse field, brambles and small branches, 6 to 10ft, your side and top. £715.
- 30 metres, Lancashire: over 10ft tall, both sides and top. £345, £520, £690.
- Roadside hedge, Hampshire: far side and top, cut from the road, overhead power lines, one narrow street. £230, £265, £280, £405, £460, £575. The customer accepted £280.
- 200 metres, Cheshire: 6 to 10ft, both sides and top. £125, £275, £385, £660, £1,320.
- 200 metres, Hampshire: 6 to 10ft, far side and top. £405, £440, £625, £690, £900, £1,035, £1,035. The customer accepted £405.
- 700 metres, Cambridgeshire: 6 to 10ft, both sides and top, some hedges close to trees, some newly planted and never cut, far side needing neighbours' consent. £1,005, £1,650.
- 700 metres, Bedfordshire: 6 to 10ft, your side and top, soft ground in places, horses to move. £290, £865, £3,165.
Some contractors included VAT and some did not, and a few did not say. We have not adjusted for that. It is worth checking before you compare two prices, because on a £500 job VAT is £100.
The £125 price on the Cheshire job was for two hours' work, and the £290 price on the Bedfordshire job almost certainly was not a price for the whole 700 metres either. When a price looks too good, ask what it covers.
Why the same hedge gets such different prices
The 200 metre hedge in Hampshire drew seven prices, from £405 to £1,035. Same hedge, same brief, and the top price was two and a half times the bottom one.
The usual reasons:
- Distance. Hedge cutting kit is slow on the road. A contractor three miles away can price a short job cheaply. One twenty miles away has an hour of travel each way to cover before the cutter starts.
- What they are bringing. A compact tractor with a small flail suits a paddock hedge. A big tractor with a long reach arm is faster on a long roadside hedge, and costs more to send out for 30 metres.
- Whether they have seen it. Nine of the 27 prices were marked as subject to a site visit, which means the number may move once the contractor has walked the hedge. Contractors pricing blind tend to price defensively. Contractors who have seen the hedge can price it tight.
- Hours versus a fixed price. Three of the 27 prices were hourly. An hourly rate looks cheap, and often is, but you carry the risk if the hedge is thicker than it looked.
- How busy they are. September to November is the busy season for hedge cutting. A contractor with a gap in the diary near you prices differently from one booked solid.
- VAT. See above.
Both customers who accepted a price on these jobs took the lowest or close to it. That is a fair strategy when all the prices are for the same scope. It is a poor one when the cheap price is for two hours and the dear one is for the whole hedge, which is why the next section matters.
What pushes the price up
The jobs that cost the most per metre had something in common: something slowed the cutter down.
- Height. A hedge over 10ft needs a longer reach, and thick growth at the top is slow to get through. The 30 metre Lancashire hedge, over 10ft, drew prices up to £690.
- Years without a cut. A flail copes well with a year or two of growth. Thick, woody regrowth after several years is a different job, and may need a saw head rather than a flail. The overgrown Hampshire pair drew a price of £715 for 30 metres.
- Both sides and the top. Three passes instead of one or two. Each pass is roughly the same time, so cutting both sides and the top is close to three times the work of cutting one side.
- The far side. Cutting the far side means getting to it: from the road, with traffic to manage, or from a neighbour's field, with their permission. The Cambridgeshire customer flagged that neighbour access depended on their cropping, and the prices reflected that uncertainty.
- Obstacles. Trees in the hedge line, overhead power lines, fence posts and gateways all mean slowing down or lifting the cutter. Newly planted hedges need care to avoid wrecking them.
- Soft ground. Wet ground means a lighter tractor, slower driving and sometimes a second visit. The Bedfordshire job asked for lighter kit because of soft spots.
- Roadside work. The cuttings land on the road and someone has to sweep them up. Ask whether the price includes clearing up. On a lane it is usually a brush on the back of the tractor; on a busier road it may mean signs and a second person.
When you are allowed to cut
This is the part people get wrong, so it is worth being precise.
In England, since May 2024 the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations make it an offence to cut or trim a hedgerow on agricultural land between 1 March and 31 August. The rules cover hedges of 20 metres or more, and shorter ones that join another hedge at each end. They also require a two metre strip from the centre of the hedge where you cannot cultivate, spray or spread fertiliser. The Rural Payments Agency enforces them and has said it will lead with advice rather than penalties. There are exemptions for hedges that overhang a right of way, hedge laying and coppicing, hedges that are dangerous or diseased, and a few others, but you need a reason you can point to.
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the same closed period of 1 March to 31 August applies under the farm support rules, with slightly different exemptions in each nation.
Private gardens are not covered by the hedgerow regulations. But the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 applies everywhere, including gardens, and it is an offence to damage or destroy an active bird's nest. In practice that means nobody sensible cuts a hedge between March and August without checking it first, and most contractors will not.
So the cutting season runs from 1 September to the end of February. Within that window there is a trade-off:
- September to November is when the ground is firmest and most of the cutting gets done. If you want a particular contractor, book early.
- January and February is better for wildlife, because the berries have been eaten by then. The ground is at its wettest, so soft paddocks may not take a tractor.
If you can wait, cutting every two or three years rather than every year gives a thicker hedge, more berries and lower bills. Trim the sides to keep it tidy and let the top go a year.
How to get a better price
- Measure it. Pace the hedge and give a length in metres. "Two hedges around a paddock" can mean 40 metres or 400, and a contractor who has to guess will guess high.
- Say how tall it is and when it was last cut. Those two facts decide whether a flail will do it in one pass or not.
- Be clear about sides. Your side, the far side, the top, or all three. The far side is the one that needs explaining: who owns the land on the other side, and can the tractor get there?
- Mention the obstacles. Power lines, trees in the hedge line, soft ground, gateways, livestock to move. A contractor who finds them on the day will charge for them on the day.
- Club together. If a neighbour's hedge joins yours, one visit covers both and shares the travel. Hedge cutting kit is slow to move, so this saves more than it does on topping.
- Be flexible on timing. "Any time before Christmas" lets a contractor fit you in when they are already cutting nearby.
- Check what each price includes. VAT, both sides or one, whether the road is swept, and whether it is a fixed price or an hourly rate with an estimate.
Flail, saw or hand tools?
A tractor-mounted flail hedge cutter on a reach arm does nearly all agricultural hedge cutting. It chops the growth finely and leaves it where it falls, which is fine on a field edge and needs sweeping on a road. It handles anything up to two or three years' growth and hedges well over 10ft if the arm is long enough.
A saw head or circular saw on the same arm is for thick, woody regrowth, laying hedges back to a line, or taking a hedge down in height after years without a cut. It leaves bigger pieces that usually need clearing.
For a short garden hedge, a hedge trimmer and a trailer can be cheaper than sending a tractor. Many contractors do both, so say what finish you want and let them suggest the kit.
Get prices for your hedge
Tell us about your hedge: where it is, how long it is, how tall, and which sides need doing. It goes to contractors who cover your area, who send back their prices, and you choose. Nothing is booked until you accept a price, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
For the rest of the autumn jobs, see September on the paddock and, for what topping costs, real paddock topping prices.
Quick answers
How much does hedge cutting cost? From real jobs in autumn 2026: a couple of short paddock hedges £345 to £715, a 200 metre hedge mostly £385 to £690, and a 700 metre run mostly £865 to £1,650. Hourly rates were £60 to £75 for a tractor, flail and driver.
How much is hedge cutting per metre? Roughly £2 to £3.50 a metre for a 200 metre hedge and £1.25 to £2.35 a metre for 700 metres. Below about 50 metres the contractor's minimum charge sets the price, not the length.
When can you cut a hedge in the UK? On agricultural land, 1 September to 28 February. Cutting between 1 March and 31 August is an offence in England under the 2024 hedgerow regulations, and barred under farm support rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Gardens are exempt from those rules but not from the law on nesting birds.
Does cutting both sides cost double? Nearly. Each side and the top is a separate pass, so both sides and the top is close to three times the cutting time of one side, plus the same travel.
Why was one price so much cheaper than the others? Usually because it is an hourly rate or a price for part of the job. Ask what it covers before comparing it with a fixed price for the whole hedge.
