Hedge trimming in Canberra: what's local
The wire from the street
A front hedge can grow straight into the service line. Evoenergy wants vegetation kept at least 1 metre from service lines and 1.5 metres from powerlines, and once growth is inside that distance the trimming must be done by an arborist Evoenergy authorises. It also warns that penalties may apply if you try to trim vegetation that's too close yourself.
Screens that became trees
The ACT's protection tests are about size: 8 metres tall, a canopy 8 metres wide, or a trunk 1 metre around at 1.4 metres. City Services' tree pages don't single out hedges, so if a screen of conifers has grown that big, ask City Services before cutting it hard. Lopping and major pruning of a protected tree need approval.
Hedges on the boundary
Legal Aid ACT's factsheet says branches of a tree that isn't protected may be cut only as far as they overhang your property, without going onto the neighbour's land. If the plants are protected, approval comes first, and an application needs the owner's written consent.
Winter sun through the hedge
A tall evergreen screen on the north side can block a lot of winter light. For a protected tree, ACT criteria allow major pruning where it substantially affects winter solar access to a home between 9am and 3pm and minor pruning won't fix it.
How hedge trimming works in Canberra
Size and access drive most of the work: how tall and wide the hedge is, whether a machine can get alongside it, and how much clipping has to be carted away. A hedge along the front fence under the service line is effectively two jobs, the garden part and the part inside Evoenergy's minimum distance, and the quote should say who does each.
Tall screens that have been sheared for years can be a thin green shell over bare wood. Cutting them back to stubs is lopping, which AS 4373 lists as unacceptable practice, so an arborist may suggest reducing them in stages instead. If you'd rather start again, removal and replanting may be the honest answer.
If the hedge belongs to the neighbour, start with a conversation. City Services points people to the Conflict Resolution Service when talking doesn't settle it, and Legal Aid ACT says ACAT can, in some boundary disputes, order a nuisance tree modified or removed.
Hedge trimming in Canberra: what you can do yourself
You can
- Trim soft new growth you can reach with both feet on the ground, using hand shears or secateurs
- Rake up and bag the clippings as you go
- Take a photo of where the hedge meets the service line so the arborist can see it before quoting
- Keep a note of when the hedge was last cut back hard
Leave to an arborist
- Anything within 1 metre of the service line or 1.5 metres of a powerline
- Hard reductions of tall screens, after checking whether the plants meet the size tests
- Hedges taller than you can reach from the ground
- Taking out a whole hedge row and its stumps
Questions to ask about hedge trimming in Canberra
- Is any of the hedge inside Evoenergy's minimum distance, and has Evoenergy authorised you to work there?
- Will you reduce it in stages, or cut it back in one go?
- Do any of the plants look big enough to be protected under the ACT rules?
- Are clippings taken away, mulched on site or left for the green bin?
- Who's covered by your insurance if something lands on the neighbour's side?
Hiring an arborist for hedge trimming in Canberra
Stand back from the hedge and look up. If it touches or nearly touches the wire from the street, leave that section alone and get an arborist Evoenergy authorises to quote it. If the screen has turned into a line of trees taller than the house, ring City Services before anyone cuts it hard. Everything else is ordinary trimming.