St Margaret's · Kingsdown · Dover · CT14–CT17
Hedge cutting in St Margaret's, hedge reduction and tree services: pruning, crown reduction, deadwooding. Across St Margaret's, Kingsdown and the Dover coast. Fully insured. We plan around the bird-nesting window (1 March – 31 August). Six-week conservation-area notice handled for you.
If your hedge or tree grows over the road or path, the council can require you to cut it back within the time the notice allows (14 to 28 days) under section 154 of the Highways Act 1980.
Send us a photo and the date on your notice. We will quote and prioritise your job so it is done inside your deadline. Get a quote
What we do
Specified for this coast's chalk soil, the salt-laden Channel wind on exposed clifftop gardens, and the conservation-area rules that cover parts of St Margaret's and central Dover. Hedge cutting and reduction for the boundary; pruning, crown reduction and deadwooding for the trees behind it.
Annual or twice-yearly cuts on privet, leylandii, beech, holly and laurel. Clean lines, arisings cleared, no power tools after 6pm.
See pricing & timingBringing overgrown hedges back into proportion, including the leylandii screens common across the newer Dover estates around Whitfield. Staged where the species needs it.
How we reduce safelyOur promise
We don't ask for payment until you've walked the hedge with us and you're happy. If we haven't done what we said we'd do, we put it right or you owe us nothing. No deposits, no upfront, no chasing.
Anyone on a state pension, automatically. No card, no proof of anything, just mention it when you book. Honour system; we trust people.
Used us before? Your next job over £500 gets 10% off, no time limit, no asking. It's logged when we send the quote, you don't need to remind us.
Why local matters
St Margaret's at Cliffe sits on chalk downland above the White Cliffs, with thin, free-draining soil and salt-laden Channel wind on exposed clifftop and seaward plots. Further inland towards Whitfield and St Margaret's Hill the ground has deeper, chalk-influenced North Downs soil, a different growing pattern again.
We work to that variation, not against it. Salt-tolerant species and staged reductions near the water. Standard privet and leylandii management on the estate roads. A tape measure on any stem near the 75mm conservation-area threshold before we touch it.
In a conservation area?
Some parts of St Margaret's and central Dover sit inside a Dover Council conservation area. That means any tree with a stem over 75mm at chest height needs six weeks' written notice before pruning. We file the section-211 notice on your behalf, included in every quote.
Common questions
It is an offence under section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to damage an active wild bird's nest. The main nesting season runs 1 March to 31 August. Cutting outside that window, September to late February, is the legal default; cutting inside it is allowed only if a competent visual nest check confirms no active nests. We schedule around the window as standard.
Most routine hedge cuts in St Margaret's and the Dover towns fall between £120 and £400 depending on length, height, species and access. Heavier reductions on overgrown leylandii or large hedges range from £300 to £900, sometimes more for staged work. We quote a fixed price up front after seeing photos and the postcode.
Routine cutting of hedging species is exempt. But if any single stem in the hedge is over 75mm diameter at 1.5m height, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 211 requires six weeks' written notice to Dover Council before any pruning. Some parts of St Margaret's and central Dover sit inside conservation areas. We file the notice on your behalf, included in every quote.
Leylandii, thuja and other cypress species do not regrow from old brown wood, so a cut that goes past the green needle-bearing zone leaves a face that stays brown. On the exposed clifftop side of St Margaret's gardens, salt-laden Channel wind can brown the seaward face as well, so hard reductions should usually be staged over two years: an intermediate cut first, then the final reduction the following winter.
You have the legal right to cut branches and roots that cross your boundary, back to the boundary line. But the cut material legally belongs to your neighbour, so offering it back is best practice. You cannot cut beyond the boundary line, and you cannot cause unnecessary damage to the parent plant. High-hedge complaints to Dover Council under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 Part 8 are a separate, formal process for a persistent evergreen boundary dispute.
Send a couple of photos and a postcode. We'll come back same-day with a fixed price and the next available date.