Laurel is one of the most popular hedging choices in the UK and increasingly common in the US Pacific Northwest and similar climates. It’s evergreen, fast-growing, and produces dense coverage. It’s also got one quirk that most homeowners don’t find out about until they’ve already seen the results of a bad cut: those big glossy leaves do not take kindly to rotary or flail cutting blades. Here’s what laurel trimming actually costs, and what’s worth knowing before you book someone.
Laurel Hedge Cutting Cost: The Numbers
United Kingdom: £120 to £500 for most residential jobs, with larger boundary hedges reaching £600 to £900 or more.
United States: $180 to $650, with larger or more established hedges running higher.
Australia: A$200 to A$700, though laurel is less universally planted there than in the UK.
New Zealand: NZ$220 to NZ$750 for typical residential hedges.
These figures cover cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), which is by far the most common variety. Portuguese laurel (Prunus lusitanica) has smaller leaves and is generally quicker to trim to a clean finish, so it sits toward the lower end of those ranges.
Why Does the Leaf Size Matter for Cost?
This is the question worth understanding properly. Cherry laurel has large, leathery leaves. When you cut through them with a standard electric or petrol hedge trimmer, you’re slicing through the leaf blades and leaving brown cut edges on every leaf that got caught by the blade. From a distance it looks fine for the first week or two. Then those cut edges brown out and the hedge looks tatty for the rest of the growing season until new growth covers it.
The professional solution is to either use single-action (rather than reciprocating) trimmer blades, or to go over the hedge with hand shears or secateurs after the power trimmer pass to clean up the visible leaf cuts on the top and sides. That second pass adds time, and time adds cost.
A contractor who does the job properly on cherry laurel will take longer than one who just runs a standard trimmer over it and calls it done. The price difference between these two approaches is usually $50 to $150 on a medium-sized hedge, and the quality difference in the result is very visible.
Laurel Cost by Hedge Size
| Hedge Size | UK Cost | US Cost | Time Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (under 1 m tall, under 5 m long) | £80 to £160 | $120 to $240 | 1.5 to 2.5 hrs |
| Medium (1 to 2 m tall, 5 to 15 m long) | £160 to £320 | $240 to $480 | 3 to 5 hrs |
| Large (over 2 m tall, 15 to 30 m long) | £320 to £550 | $480 to $750 | 5 to 8 hrs |
| Extra large (30 m+ boundary hedge) | £550 to £900+ | $750 to $1,200+ | Full day or more |
How Fast Does Laurel Grow?
Cherry laurel grows at a moderate to fast rate: roughly 30 to 60 centimetres (12 to 24 inches) per year in good conditions. In fertile soil with regular watering, established laurel can push toward the top of that range.
This means two cuts per year is the sweet spot for most UK and Pacific Northwest gardens. Late spring (May to June) and late summer (August to September) are the standard windows. In the UK specifically, the Bird and Countryside Act means you should avoid cutting between March and August if there’s any chance of nesting birds in the hedge, so the late summer cut often becomes an August job timed carefully around that.
Laurel That Has Got Away: What Renovation Costs
Unlike conifers, laurel is a forgiving plant when it comes to hard pruning. It will regenerate from old wood, which means overgrown laurel can be cut back much more aggressively than leylandii or arborvitae.
A neglected laurel hedge of 1.5 to 2 metres tall that hasn’t been touched in four or five years can be reduced in height and width significantly in a single visit, and it will come back. In the UK, this kind of renovation job costs £300 to £700 for a typical boundary hedge. In the US, budget $400 to $900.
The debris volume on a laurel renovation job is substantial. Those big leaves and thick stems add up. Disposal is usually charged extra, and on a major renovation cut it can add £50 to £150 (UK) or $70 to $200 (US) to the invoice.
Practical Questions to Ask Before Booking
Before you hire anyone to cut your laurel, a few things are worth establishing:
What tools will they use? On cherry laurel specifically, the answer matters. A professional who mentions hand shears or single-action blades as part of their process is likely to leave a cleaner result.
Is disposal included? For a large laurel hedge, this is not a small consideration. The volume of material is significant.
Have they done laurel before? Some gardeners are primarily grass-and-border people who will tackle a hedge if asked. Someone who regularly works with laurel hedges will be faster and produce a better finish.
Use the Hedge Trimming Cost Calculator for a personalised estimate based on your hedge’s dimensions and location.