HEDGE TRIMMING IN BURNABY, BC

Hedge Trimming in Burnaby, BC

Hedges cut to shape across Burnaby, from Capitol Hill and Burnaby Heights to Deer Lake, Metrotown, Brentwood and Edmonds. On the sloping half of the city the top line is a decision, and we make it with you rather than for you.

BCLNA certified

Licensed and insured

WCB cleared

A written quote before we start

On a Slope, Level Top or Follow the Ground

Burnaby has more sloping ground than anywhere else we work. Capitol Hill and Burnaby Heights fall away toward the inlet, the streets under Burnaby Mountain climb, and even the gentler ground around Deer Lake rolls enough to show in a hedge.

Which matters because a hedge on a slope has a decision in it that a hedge on the flat does not. The top line either stays horizontal and steps down, or it follows the fall of the ground. Both are right. What is not right is drifting between them, which is what happens when a hedge is cut by whoever is available and produces a top that wanders.

Level top, stepped

The top is cut horizontal and drops in steps where the ground falls. It reads as deliberate from the street and suits a formal frontage, but the steps have to be set out before the first cut and kept in the same places every time.

Following the ground

The top runs parallel to the slope, so the hedge keeps one height all the way along. Quicker, quieter, and usually right on a long boundary run where nobody is reading the top line against a house.

Whichever it already is

Most hedges have been cut one way for years and the wood has set accordingly. Switching means cutting into old growth on one side, which on cedar does not grow back. We will tell you which one yours is before changing anything.

So on a first visit to a sloped hedge we work out which of the two it has been, say so, and then keep to it. The decision is worth two minutes at the start and it is the difference between a hedge that looks kept and one that looks cut.

Which Way the Slope Faces Changes the Hedge

On a north facing bank the same hedge grows differently from the one across the street. Less light reaches the face, the growth is looser and thinner, and the inside opens up sooner. Cutting it harder does not fix that. It usually makes it worse, because a thin face has less to spare.

What we do instead is cut a shaded face less and leave it slightly wider, so the growth it does make is kept rather than removed. On the sunny side of the same property the hedge can take a tighter line and will fill back in. Two faces of one hedge, cut to two different widths, is normal on a Burnaby slope and looks like nothing at all once it has grown in.

None of this is a substitute for the right plant in the right place. If a hedge on a shaded bank has been thin for years and is bare at the base, trimming is maintenance rather than a cure, and we will say so rather than book visits that cannot change it. The main hedge trimming page covers what a trim does and does not do.

What a Burnaby Hedge Trim Includes

The top line agreed before the first cut on sloping ground
Faces cut to the line the hedge has been kept to
A shaded face left slightly wider rather than cut back hard
Clippings collected off beds, lawn and hard surfaces
Green waste taken away with us, inside the quoted price
The base left clear so you can see what you have

What we do not do. We do not work within reach of overhead service lines. A hedge or a limb growing into the drop to a house needs a crew qualified to work near live conductors, and we will tell you to call rather than take it on. That is our own rule, not a quote of anyone else’s.

We do not take trees down, grind stumps, or reach anything higher than a platform safely gets to. Weed killer is not something we use at all. Ornamental pruning of specimen trees is tree pruning, and if a hedge has been left long enough that it needs reducing rather than trimming, that is a bigger job and the main hedge trimming page sets out what it involves.

Hedge Trimming Across Burnaby

The streets climbing Capitol Hill and Burnaby Heights, the slopes under Burnaby Mountain, the flatter established gardens around Deer Lake, and the townhouse and low rise frontages through Metrotown, Brentwood and Edmonds. The steeper the ground, the more the top line matters.

Hedge trimming in neighbouring cities is on the Maple Ridge, Richmond and Tsawwassen pages, our areas served page covers the whole service area, and bark mulch for Burnaby beds is on the Burnaby mulch page.

Burnaby Hedge Trimming Questions

Will you take the clippings away?

Yes, all of them, and they never go over a ditch edge. That water is a primary irrigation source for farmland here, and cuttings raked into it catch on a culvert and become the City’s problem.

Can you trim a hedge that runs right along a ditch?

Yes. We set up on whichever side holds weight, and we do not put a ladder on a sloping bank. If one face cannot be reached safely you will hear that before you get a price, not afterwards.

There is blackberry growing through my hedge. Can you sort it?

We take out what is reachable and sever the canes low where it is not. Expect it to push back in from whatever is growing behind the hedge, so where something is growing behind it treat this as an ongoing item rather than a one time repair.

How often does a hedge need cutting here?

It depends on the hedge. A laurel or cedar screen usually wants more than one cut across a growing season if you want a crisp face, and one if you are happy with a softer outline. Boxwood and slower mixed hedges need less.

Do you need the neighbour's permission?

If the other side of your hedge is their property, we ask before stepping onto it. Where that is not possible we cut from your side and the top and tell you what the back face will look like.

Do you cover all of Burnaby?

Yes, north and south, hillside and flat. If you are on one of the steeper streets it is worth saying so when you ring, because the top line is the part we will want to talk about.

Do you take trees down?

No, that is arborist work and we will point you to one. The same applies to stumps, and to anything higher than a platform can safely reach.

Do you spray the weeds around the hedge?

No, spraying is not part of a hedge trim. Anything we clear around the base is done by hand.

Related Services and Areas

Get a Hedge Trimming Quote in Burnaby

Tell us roughly how long the hedge is, what it is, and whether there is a ditch or a field behind it. That is usually enough for a number, and we will confirm it on site. You can also contact us first.