Hedge Trimming New Westminster — Cedar, Laurel & Privacy Hedges

No. Trimming and maintenance is not removal and does not require a permit. The bylaw matters only if you intend to take the hedge out. New Westminster is unusual in Metro Vancouver in that it protects hedges explicitly: removing a protected hedge requires one replacement tree per 4 metres of hedge. Individual stems 20 cm or more in diameter at 1.3 m above grade are separately protected as trees. We measure and tell you which category applies before you commit.

One replacement tree per 4 metres of protected hedge. A 20-metre cedar run therefore requires five replacement trees. If individual stems qualify as protected trees in their own right — 20 cm or more in diameter at 1.3 m — the tree rules apply as well: 2 replacements for a standard protected removal, or 1 where the tree is confirmed hazardous or dead. This is rarely priced into removal quotes, so confirm it before comparing numbers between companies.

Not in one pass. Emerald cedar and western red cedar do not regenerate from old wood — cut into the bare brown interior and that section stays bare permanently. There is no recovery cut. If your cedar hedge has outgrown its space, the fix is a staged reduction: trim to the innermost live growth, let the plant thicken over a season, then take the next increment. Laurel and boxwood are different and will push new growth from old wood. We check where the live growth actually ends before quoting any reduction.

We trim cedar after the main flush of new spring growth has hardened rather than during active extension, which lets the cut heal into firm wood and holds the shape longer. We avoid heavy work during hard frost and during peak heat events, since both stress the plant at the cut surface. Light shaping can be done across a wider window. If you need a specific height by a specific date, tell us — a staged reduction has to be planned backwards from that date.

Hedge trimming is quoted on length, height and access rather than a flat rate. Lot width is the local driver: New Westminster's older neighbourhoods frequently have no rear vehicle access, so clippings are carried out by hand instead of chipped at the curb. Anything above roughly 10 feet needs ladder or platform work with a second crew member under WorkSafeBC rules. Disposal is real — a mature 30-metre cedar run can fill a truck — and our quotes include haul-away. We provide free on-site estimates, and for stratas or multi-hedge properties we price a seasonal schedule rather than one-off visits.

Yes, haul-away is included in every quote we give. A mature 30-metre cedar hedge generates enough green waste to fill a truck, and disposal is a genuine cost. If you are comparing quotes, confirm whether debris removal is priced in or left to you — that single line item is where quotes most often diverge. We leave the site clean.