Hedge, shrub and small tree trimming

Kanata is full of cedar. Whole streets in Beaverbrook and Katimavik were planted with cedar hedges in the 1970s and 1980s, and those hedges now stand three to five metres tall with a bare brown interior and a top nobody can reach from a step ladder. Bringing one back is a different job from trimming a ten-year-old hedge, and a contractor who treats them the same will kill it.

What the work involves, in order. A trim starts with the plant rather than the machine. Species decides the rules: cedar and yew tolerate cutting back into old wood, junipers and most spruce do not and stay brown where you cut. Then shape. A hedge should be slightly narrower at the top than the bottom, by roughly 100 to 150 mm per side on a two metre hedge, so the lower branches still get light. Almost every neglected hedge in the west end has the opposite profile, which is why the bottom is bare.

Step one: the sides, then the top. Sides are cut first, from the bottom upward so falling clippings do not hide the line. A string line gives a straight top on a long run, and eyeballing fifteen metres always produces a wave. Hand shears finish the face on a formal hedge, because powered shears tear cedar foliage and leave a brown edge.

Step two: thinning, not just shearing. Shearing the outside every year builds a dense shell with a dead centre. A proper trim removes some interior deadwood and a few crossing branches so light and air get in. On shrubs the same principle means taking out a third of the oldest stems at ground level rather than shearing the whole plant.

Step three: restoration on an overgrown hedge. A hedge that is far too tall comes down over two or three seasons. Take no more than a third of the height in a year, let it respond, then take more. Cedar pushes new growth from old wood where there is green above the cut and not where there is bare brown. Solving a five metre hedge in one afternoon is how people end up replacing it.

Step four: clean-up and disposal. Cedar clippings are bulky and acidic and a poor addition to a compost pile. They go out with yard waste or to a depot, and a long hedge easily fills a truck, which is why disposal is often a separate line on the quote.

Timing. Cedar and most formal hedges take a light trim in late June after the spring flush, with an optional tidy in late August. Stop by mid September, because late growth does not harden off before frost. Spring-flowering shrubs such as lilac and forsythia are pruned right after flowering. Most deciduous trees are pruned in late winter while dormant.

What it costs in Ottawa in 2026. Indicative ranges. A single trim of a ten to twenty metre suburban cedar hedge commonly runs $250 to $600, with height and disposal volume doing most of the work in that number. Front yard foundation shrubs are often $150 to $400 a visit, and a small ornamental tree under about six metres is $200 to $500. A multi-season restoration of a badly overgrown hedge can total $1,000 to $2,500 across three years. Anything above step ladder height costs more.

What the City's rules do to this job. Two things matter. First, a tree with a trunk diameter of 30 cm or more measured at 1.3 m above grade is a distinctive tree on an urban lot of one hectare or less, and removing, injuring or destroying one needs a permit under By-law 2020-340, with a lower 10 cm threshold on urban lots over a hectare. Ottawa's own pages return an error to automated reading, so this is taken from a summary published by a local arborist firm (Advanced Tree Solutions) and should be confirmed with Forestry Services before any removal. Heavy pruning can count as injuring a tree, which is the part homeowners miss. Second, the City's landscaping guide sets the critical root zone at a radius of 10 cm for every 1 cm of trunk diameter at breast height, so a 30 cm trunk has a 3 m protected radius, and you cannot dig within it without approval from Forestry Services (City of Ottawa).

Kanata specifics. Beaverbrook's mature canopy puts many of its trees comfortably over the 30 cm threshold, so a routine-looking limb reduction can be regulated work. Kanata Lakes and Morgan's Grant have younger trees but heavy deer and rabbit browsing off the Greenbelt edge, and cedar and yew are what gets eaten, so a hedge there is often thin at the bottom for reasons pruning cannot fix. Salt spray along Eagleson, Hazeldean and Terry Fox scorches the road-facing side, and that damage shows in May, not December.

Licences and credentials. Trimming is not licensed work in Ontario and no certificate is required to cut your hedge. Where a real credential exists it is in arboriculture: an ISA Certified Arborist designation is checkable, and work near hydro conductors should be declined by a general landscaper. Insurance and a WSIB clearance number are the practical checks (WSIB). Climbing, or a chainsaw above head height, belongs with a tree company.

What to ask before you hire. What species is this and how hard can it be cut. Will you taper the sides. How much height this year. Is disposal included and how many bags. Is this tree over 30 cm at breast height, and have you checked whether a permit is needed. Do you carry liability insurance and WSIB. If a contractor offers to take a five metre cedar hedge to two metres in one visit, get a second opinion.