Hedge Trimming Cost in Brisbane (Per Hedge & Per Hour)
Trimming a small hedge in Brisbane costs $60–$180, with most around $100; bigger runs are charged by the hour ($50–$90/hr) or by the half-day. It is an adjacent service to mowing with its own search demand — priced per hedge for small jobs and per hour or half-day for the big ones.
This is a deep-dive on hedge trimming cost in Brisbane. For mowing, edging and full-yard maintenance, head back to the main Brisbane lawn mowing cost guide →.
What hedge trimming costs in Brisbane
Small, regular hedges are quoted per job; long or tall runs flip to an hourly or half-day rate:
| Job | Cost (incl. GST) |
|---|---|
| Small hedge (per job) | $60–$180 (typ. $100) |
| Hourly (longer runs) | $50–$90/hr |
| Half-day (big reshape) | $250–$450 |
A single waist-high murraya along a front fence is a quick per-job tidy. A boundary run of lilly pilly screening the neighbours is hourly or half-day work — sometimes quoted by the lineal metre. As a rule, if it can be done from the ground with hand shears in under an hour, expect the per-job rate.
What changes the price
The variables are height, length, species and what comes off:
- Height and length. The two biggest levers — a long, tall hedge is more surface to cut and more to clean up.
- How overgrown it is. A maintained hedge is a light skim; one left a year needs a hard cut-back and far more green waste handled.
- Species. Lilly pilly, murraya and photinia are the SEQ regulars; dense, woody or fast-growing types take longer and blunt the blades.
- Access. Anything needing ladders, or trimming over a fence, garden bed or pool, slows the job and adds to the rate.
- Green waste. Volume drives tip fees — a hard reshape can throw off more clippings than the trim itself.
Tall and overgrown hedges
Once a hedge tops about 3 metres the job changes. It needs height access — tall ladders, sometimes a platform — and that brings time, safety gear and care around power lines into the price. A first cut on a hedge that has been let go is always dearer than the maintenance trims that follow: you are paying to bring it back to shape, after which a regular tidy keeps it cheap.
A heavy reshape can also leave bare patches while the hedge recovers, so a good operator will tell you how hard they can safely cut a lilly pilly or murraya in one go. If yours has run away, factor a higher first visit and then book it in regularly.
Bundling with a mow or clean-up to save
The cheapest hedge trim is the one added to a visit the operator is already making. If you are on a regular mowing booking, tacking the hedge on saves a separate call-out and is the easiest way to keep it tidy without a premium. Same logic as mowing: routine beats one-off.
Two more savers — mulch the clippings on-site where practical to dodge tip fees, and bundle with the neighbours if you share a boundary hedge, so the operator does one continuous run and splits the call-out. For the full maintenance picture, see the main Brisbane lawn mowing cost guide →.