Emergency Tree Removal
Priority call-outs for trees down after coastal winds — fast, safe removal when it cannot wait.
Learn more →Salt gets to a hedge before anything else does
Stand on the ridge above Werri Beach on a big southerly day and you can watch it happen. The wind comes off the water carrying salt, hits the seaward face of every hedge between Bombo Headland and Gerroa, and burns the new tips brown.
That is the defining fact of hedge work in this Municipality. It is not really about neatness.
A hedge here is a windbreak. It shelters the garden behind it, the paving, the paint on the house. Keep it dense and it does that job for decades. Let it go and it thins from the seaward side, hollows out in the middle, and stops working.
Kiama is small. Minnamurra to Foxground is a short run, and the crews we connect you with are already local.
What is actually growing in Kiama hedges
- Lilly pilly — the workhorse. Dense, quick, takes a hard cut. Watch for psyllid on the susceptible varieties; the pimpled leaves never recover, they have to be cut out.
- Murraya — glossy, fragrant, fast. Wants three cuts a year to stay tight rather than leggy.
- Viburnum — reliable formal screen, holds a crisp edge better than most.
- Photinia — the red new growth people plant it for only appears after a cut, so trim timing is the whole point.
- Pittosporum — tolerant, forgiving, good in wind.
- Westringia and coastal rosemary — genuinely salt-hardy, the right answer on the most exposed frontages.
- Coastal banksia — often used as an informal screen on headland-facing blocks. Trim it lightly; it does not shoot readily from old wood.
Species drives the cut. A lilly pilly and a banksia asked for the same treatment will give you two very different results.
The two mistakes that wreck a coastal hedge
Mistake one: cutting the sides vertical. A hedge should taper — wider at the base, narrower at the top. If the top overhangs, it shades the bottom, the lower foliage dies off, and you end up with a green lid on bare sticks. On the coast that is worse than usual, because the bare base is exactly where you needed the wind stopped.
Mistake two: waiting until it is overgrown. Most hedge species will not reshoot willingly from old bare wood. Cut a neglected hedge back to where you wish it was and you may be looking at brown timber for a very long time. Bringing an overgrown hedge back in is a staged job across two or three seasons, not one afternoon.
Trim little and often. It is cheaper and the hedge stays a hedge.
Timing on this coast
Early spring — the main structural cut, just ahead of the growth flush.
Late summer or early autumn — the tidy-up, so the hedge goes into the windy months dense rather than shaggy.
Fast growers — add a third light cut mid-season.
Avoid heavy cutting in the peak of summer heat, and avoid trimming anything that is currently nesting. Take a proper look through the hedge before the blades go in.
Flowering hedges get cut straight after they finish flowering, not before, unless you would rather have the shape than the flowers.
How the job runs
Straight lines are not luck. A crew will set a string line or work off a fixed reference so the top stays true along the length, then cut the faces to a taper and finish the top last. Bigger hedges get a platform or a pole trimmer rather than a wobbly ladder.
Clippings are raked, blown and cleared. You choose whether they leave in the truck or stay as chipped mulch on your beds.
Kiama Council runs a weekly green-lid FOGO bin for household volumes, with larger green waste loads accepted at the Minnamurra Waste & Recycling Facility for a fee (Kiama Council).
Boundaries, height and the neighbour conversation
Most hedge disputes are solved over a fence in five minutes. A few are not.
The position in NSW, in plain terms:
- Growth crossing onto your land can generally be cut back to the boundary, at your cost, and the cuttings still belong to your neighbour.
- Under Part 2A of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW), a group of two or more trees planted as a hedge that has reached 2.5 metres or more and severely obstructs sunlight to a window, or a view from a dwelling, can be taken to the Land and Environment Court. The Court can order pruning or removal, but not compensation for the lost view, and it will not act unless you have made a reasonable effort to reach agreement first (NSW legislation).
- Part 2A does not apply to a single tree.
Separately, some hedge plants get big enough to fall inside Kiama Council's tree controls. Council manages pruning and removal on private land through its Development Control Plan and a Tree Management Application, with 2025-26 fees starting at $93 for up to two trees (ABLIS). If your "hedge" is really a row of mature trees, ring Council on 02 4232 0444 before booking. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Book it with the rest of the yard
Hedges are usually the last item on a list. If you are already having tree pruning done, or clearing a stump with stump grinding, or dealing with a palm on palm removal, stack them into one visit and one mobilisation.
We cover Kiama, Kiama Downs, Kiama Heights, Bombo, Minnamurra, Gerringong, Gerroa, Werri Beach, Jamberoo, Foxground, Rose Valley and Saddleback Mountain — see the suburbs page, or head back to home.
We ask the crews we work with to carry public liability cover. Ask to see the certificate.
Call (02) 4214 4543 for a hedge trimming quote. Open 7 days, 6am-7pm.
More services
Explore our other services
Tree Removal
Complete removal of dead, dangerous or unwanted trees, from suburban blocks to exposed coastal lots.
Learn more →Storm Damage Clean-Up
Rapid clean-up of storm-damaged and fallen trees after the coastal southerlies come through.
Learn more →Tree Lopping
Crown reduction and lopping to keep tall Norfolk Island pines and figs safe in salt wind.
Learn more →Stump Grinding
Below-ground stump grinding that clears the block fast, no regrowth left behind.
Learn more →Palm Removal
Safe take-down of tall coastal palms, a common hazard in wind-exposed Kiama gardens.
Learn more →Tree Pruning
Regular pruning to keep coastal eucalypts and figs healthy and storm-resilient year round.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
How often should a coastal hedge be trimmed in Kiama?
Twice a year suits most formal hedges here — a main cut in early spring before the growth flush, and a tidy-up in late summer or early autumn. Fast growers like murraya and photinia often want three. Exposed hedges taking the full southerly need checking more often for salt-burnt tips, because burnt growth left in place tends to die back further. Once a year is usually the point where a hedge starts going woody and losing its base.
Can you trim my neighbour's hedge where it grows over my fence?
You can generally prune growth that crosses your boundary back to the boundary line, at your own cost, and the cuttings remain the neighbour's property. That is common law, not a licence to reshape their plant. Where a hedge of two or more trees reaches 2.5 metres or more and severely obstructs sunlight to a window or a view from a dwelling, the NSW Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 provides a Land and Environment Court process — but only after a genuine attempt to sort it out directly. Talk to the neighbour first.
Do you take the clippings away?
Yes, if you want them gone — say so when you book so the truck has room. A long hedge produces a surprising volume. Kiama Council's weekly green-lid FOGO bin covers small amounts, and bigger loads go to the Minnamurra Waste and Recycling Facility, where fees apply. Some people prefer the clippings chipped and left on their garden beds as mulch, which costs less and saves a trip.
Free, no-obligation