Short answer: Cedar hedge trimming in the Fraser Valley typically runs $8 to $15 per linear metre for both sides and the top, and full hedge removal including the stump row runs $50 to $150 per metre. Height can be reduced substantially, but cedars will not regrow green from bare wood, so width has a hard limit.
Why Are Cedar Hedges Everywhere in the Fraser Valley?
Drive any residential street or rural road between Langley and Chilliwack and you are driving between hedges: emerald cedars around city lots, excelsa cedars and Leyland cypress in the tall privacy rows, laurel where someone wanted fast and glossy. They are cheap to plant, fast to grow, and green all year, which is why the valley planted tens of thousands of them. The catch is that a hedge is not a fence, it is a row of trees on a maintenance plan. Excelsa cedar wants to be a 25 metre tree. Laurel wants to be a thicket. Skip a few years of trimming and the "hedge" becomes a wall of top-heavy trees shading two yards, pushing into the septic field and catching wind like a sail.
We handle the whole hedge lifecycle: regular shaping, serious height reductions, restorative work on neglected rows, and full removal with the stump row ground out when a hedge is past saving or simply in the wrong place.
What Does a Proper Hedge Trim Involve?
A good trim keeps the faces tight and slightly tapered (a hair wider at the bottom than the top, so lower growth keeps its light), takes the top level, and stays just inside the green growth layer. On cedars that last point is the whole game: most hedging cedars cannot regrow from bare inner wood, so a trim that bites too deep leaves brown patches that never fill. Our crews trim with the biology in mind, and we include complete cleanup: clippings raked, tarped, chipped and hauled, beds and lawns blown off.
- Annual or twice-yearly maintenance trims, scheduled so you never call twice
- Height reductions done to a level the hedge can hold, not an arbitrary hack
- Restorative multi-season plans for overgrown but savable hedges
- Tall-hedge work from ladders and lifts on established privacy rows
- Acreage runs: hundred-metre-plus windbreaks and property lines, quoted by the job
How Much Can a Cedar Hedge Be Reduced?
Height can come down a long way. Width cannot, because most hedging cedars will not push new green growth from bare inner wood, so the sides can only be cut back to just inside the green.
The most common hedge call in the valley: "it's twice the height it should be." Cedar hedges tolerate substantial top reductions, but expectations matter. The freshly cut top will show brown wood until surrounding growth folds over it, typically a season or two. Width is the harder constraint: if the hedge is a metre too wide over your driveway, the sides cannot simply be cut a metre back into bare wood, because on cedar that face stays brown forever. When a hedge is genuinely too big for its spot in both dimensions, we lay out the honest options: staged reduction and a cosmetic waiting period, or removal and replanting with the right species at the right spacing, which is often cheaper over five years than fighting the wrong plant.
What Does Full Hedge Removal Include?
When a hedge is dead, diseased, storm-wrecked or in the way of a fence, pool or addition, we take it out end to end:
- Cut and clear: trunks cut, brush chipped on site, wood hauled or bucked for firewood
- Stump row ground: the line of stumps ground below grade with a stump grinder, so the strip is plantable or fence-ready
- Finish: grindings raked out or hauled, soil left ready for topsoil, sod, or fence posts
Removals frequently precede fence builds, and we coordinate happily with fencing contractors on line and timing. On boundary hedges, make sure ownership is clear before removal: a hedge planted on the property line belongs to both owners in BC, and taking down a shared hedge without the neighbour's agreement is a legal mess we will help you avoid by asking the awkward question early.
How Much Does Hedge Work Cost in the Fraser Valley?
Hedge work is usually priced by the linear metre, which makes it easy to compare quotes once you measure your run. These are typical Fraser Valley ranges, not quotes, and they include chipping and cleanup.
| Hedge job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Standard-height cedar hedge trim, both sides and top | $8 to $15 per linear metre |
| Full hedge removal including grinding the stump row | $50 to $150 per linear metre |
| Tall, overgrown or lift-access hedges | Quoted by the job |
On those numbers a 30 metre hedge trim commonly lands between $250 and $500, and removing a 20 metre overgrown hedge with the stumps out is commonly a $1,500 to $3,000 project. Measure the run before you call and you will get a much tighter answer over the phone.
Do You Take On Acreage and Farm Hedge Work?
Yes, and at that scale hedges are quoted by the job rather than by the metre.
Rural Langley, Bradner, Matsqui Prairie, Greendale, Ryder Lake: the valley's acreages carry hedges at a different scale. Hundred-metre driveways lined both sides, cedar windbreaks around farmyards, laurel gone feral around old farmhouses. We bring the equipment that makes this economical: tracked chippers, lifts for tall runs, and crews that quote the kilometre-of-hedge job as a project rather than a per-visit surprise. Windbreak renewal is a specialty of the region's dairy and berry farms: removing dead sections, reducing wind-damaged tops after the winter storms, and replanting gaps so the break keeps doing its job across Sumas and Matsqui prairie winds.
Hedge FAQs
How much does hedge trimming cost in the Fraser Valley?
Typical cedar hedge trimming runs $8 to $15 per linear metre for a standard-height hedge (both sides and top), so a 30 metre hedge usually lands between $250 and $500. Tall, overgrown or ladder-and-lift hedges cost more, and acreage-scale runs are quoted by the job. Cleanup and haul-away are included in our quotes.
How far can you cut a cedar hedge back?
Height can come down substantially, but width is limited by biology: most hedging cedars will not regrow green from bare inner wood, so cutting sides back past the green layer leaves permanent brown patches. We trim sides to just inside the green, and reduce height by whatever your goal requires. If a hedge is too wide for its spot, honest options are hard reduction with a brown period on top, or removal and replanting.
When should hedges be trimmed in BC?
Late spring and early fall are the classic windows for cedar hedges, avoiding trimming in extreme summer heat or frost. One legal note: songbirds nest in hedges from roughly March through August, and active nests are protected under the BC Wildlife Act and federal law, so summer trims start with a nest check and we postpone sections with active nests.
My hedge has brown patches. Can it be saved?
It depends on the cause. Drought stress, root damage and mites cause browning that can recover or be hidden by surrounding growth if caught early. Browning from over-cutting into bare wood is permanent on cedars. Whole dead plants in a row are usually root disease or drought kill and will not come back; the honest fix is removing the dead sections and replanting, and we will tell you which case yours is.
How much does hedge removal cost?
Full removal of a mature cedar hedge, including grinding the stump row, typically runs $50 to $150 per linear metre in the Fraser Valley depending on height, trunk size and access. A 20 metre overgrown hedge is commonly a $1,500 to $3,000 project including stumps and haul-away. Firm written quote after a site look, as always.
Is there a height limit for hedges?
Some Fraser Valley municipalities regulate hedge and fence heights in front yards and at corners for sightlines, and disputes between neighbours over view-blocking hedges are common. There is no single valley-wide rule, so check your municipality’s bylaws if the hedge borders a street or a disgruntled neighbour. We regularly do hedge reductions agreed and split between two households.