If you don't have the time or talent to trim your hedge yourself, it's a big advantage that there are people you can have your hedge trimmed by.
Costs: Overview of the positions
Cutting hedges can be very time-consuming depending on the type of plant and the dimensions. The prices for cutting the hedge cannot therefore be answered in general terms. The individual positions provide information about how the prices are made up and the
- Wage: this includes the actual effort, cutting the hedge,
- Getting there: travel costs are calculated per kilometer
- Disposal: the costs of disposing of green waste
- Tool: if devices and tools are calculated
These four positions must be taken into account when calculating the cost of cutting the hedge. Wages are the most important and in many cases most expensive item in the prices and can be calculated based on various criteria. Based on the individual positions, you can see exactly where you should save money, especially if the dimensions of your hedge are considerable.
Wages
The salary depends heavily on the gardener's billing option. The dimensions and the care requirements determine exactly which shape is more worthwhile for you:
1. Hourly wage:
The hourly wage for most specialist companies and self-employed gardeners is 25 to 35 euros. That doesn't sound like much at first glance, but you have to keep in mind that hedges can grow very large, high and dense. Billing by the hour is worthwhile for hedges with the following properties:
- low hedges up to 150 cm
- easy to cut
- only a care or refresher cut is needed
The length doesn't really matter because gardeners don't need a ladder for hedges with a height of 150 cm. This saves time and allows longer hedges to be worked on more quickly.
2. Price per meter:
Prices per meter are the most common type of billing and average nine euros per meter. The prices vary between three and 22 euros and are ideal for cuts that require a lot of time, as you only pay for the meter and not the hours. For a hedge that is ten meters long, the price will be between 30 and 220 euros, on average around 90 euros. However, the difference here is often the difficulty of cutting and the height of the hedge:
- Hedges up to 150 cm: low effort, costs can be less than 3 euros per meter
- Hedges up to 200 cm: higher effort, average price is required
- Hedges over 200 cm to 350 cm: high effort, price is well above average
Please note that the price is not calculated per cubic or square meter, but per meter.
Directions
You can save costs when traveling by comparing several providers. It is important to choose a company that is not far away and does not have to travel long distances. Shorter journeys mean lower costs and vice versa. Typical cost examples at a glance:
- Up to 20 km there are often no travel costs
- 30 to 50 km: 15 – 30 euros
- from 50 km: 50 – 100 euros
- every additional 50 km: 50 – 60 euros
Per-kilometer prices are rarely charged, but you should avoid this if you don't live in close proximity to the company. Depending on the company, the price per kilometer varies significantly and can easily be between 50 cents and over ten euros. When calculating costs, be sure to consider the distance to the specialist company in order to save high costs. You must also note that travel distances are calculated for each day. If you live 50 kilometers away from a company and they cut your hedge on two days, you have to pay the travel costs for each day. This means that in the end you will pay between 100 and 200 euros for two working days.
Tip:
You can save particularly high travel costs if you choose a provider that offers flat rates. In this case, the travel costs are integrated into the service, which can be much cheaper if the journey is long.
Disposal
The cost of disposing of the green waste after cutting depends on your own contribution. You can either commission the company or the gardener to do this, where you will be charged per cubic meter of waste, or you can take care of the disposal yourself. The two options in detail:
1. Disposal by a specialist
If the business or gardener has a shredder, small quantities can be disposed of free of charge. For larger quantities, an average of 40 to 50 euros per m³ is charged. With a quantity of 10 m³ you would therefore cost between 400 and 500 euros. This price includes costs for landfill and transport.
2. Independent disposal
Do-it-yourself disposal depends heavily on the amount of green waste. If the hedge has only been gently refreshed, the branches can usually be added to the compost, especially if the hedges are small and low. However, if larger amounts of waste are generated, the costs will be calculated as follows:
- Rental rates for vans: 8 to 40 euros for 4 hours, 100 to 250 euros per day, rarely daily prices under 100 euros
- Containers: 70 euros for 5 m³, 100 euros for 7 m³, 120 euros for 10 m³
- Landfill costs: depending on the municipality, usually 200 to 250 euros for an amount of 10 m³
Tool
Depending on the effort, you may have to pay additional costs for the tools you need, for example a more powerful hedge trimmer, the purchase cost of which can be several thousand euros. The top model from Husqvarna, the HUSQVARNA 325HE4 alone, costs 869 euros according to the manufacturer's RRP. You must request these costs in advance as they vary from company to company. The prices for the additional tools depend on the dimensions and type of hedge. For example, if hedges have to be cut from very solid wood, higher performance is necessary. In addition to the items mentioned above, some specialist companies generally charge a fee for providing the tools. In most cases, you won't have to pay for electricity here as many of the devices run on combustible fuels. The tool costs are often comparable to the rental fees in hardware stores.
Cut yourself: price overview
Of course you can trim the hedges on your own. Although you will then have to do all the work yourself, you will save significantly more with this option because the tools required can be used for over ten years with good maintenance. Here you will incur the following costs:
1. Hedge trimmer (manual):
The classic version of hedge trimmers is also the cheapest. The price for a hedge trimmer is between 15 and 50 euros and depends heavily on the manufacturer and additional functions. For example, box shears are specifically designed for box trees and other hedge plants with similar growth.
2. Hedge trimmer (electric):
Electric hedge trimmers are significantly more expensive due to the way they work, but not unaffordable. The advantage of hedge trimmers is their long service life, as they last for ten to twelve years on average. For the price of 60 to 200 euros for the device, you would only spend 6 to 25 euros per year over this period.
3. Replacement blades for electric hedge trimmers:
Over the years you will either need to replace or sharpen the blades of the electric hedge trimmers. Replacing the blades is easy and a new blade costs around 30 to 50 euros, depending on the manufacturer.
4. Additional devices:
such as ladders or work clothing, which is required for poisonous hedge plants such as arborvitae (bot. Thuja), also incur costs. However, these are only one-off purchases as they are just as robust as the hedge trimmers. For ladders you have to expect costs of 25 to 100 euros. This price range depends on the height and number of rungs of the ladder, as well as the material and quality.
Overall, the costs of cutting hedges yourself would be between 50 and 300 euros, depending on whether you need additional utensils such as ladders or a new knife blade or want to buy a completely new device. You don't have to pay any costs for transport or wages for the gardeners.
Tip:
The annual electricity costs of electric hedge trimmers are quite low, as the majority of hedge plants require one or two cuts per year. On average, using an electric hedge trimmer with a power of 500 watts that is used continuously for five to six hours at a typical price of 0.25 cents per kilowatt hour will cost you a maximum of 1.25 to 2.50 euros per year calculated.
