Ask him for references...

That seems like a very inexpensive price, one of the things that makes some landscaper businesses more expensive is that some of them are bonded and insured, in case anything bad happens.

landscaping/tree trimming has become SO expensive! i had a row of mulberry trees on the other side of my backyard fence trimmed back so they'd stop dropping gallons of mulberries in my yard. that was a couple of years ago and it cost me $1500.

i'm not sure what i'd do in your situation but i have to wonder if this is a case of "you get what you pay for". hopefully, you'll get a good vibe from the less expensive guy when he gets there.

He just left. Yes, on the good vibes. Seem a decent strong young man, in business with his sister. He has trimmed privet before but "never one this big". He said rather than rent the boom lift like the other guy, he'll rent a longer pole trimmer than the one he has. The lift is $325 a day, the trimmer only $65. Only using a regular tripod ladder. Thinks he can do it in one day, perhaps come back the next to do the clean up if the trimming takes longer than expected. As far as that goes, I could rake it up into piles for him. Plus he complimented me on my garden, he called it "The Queen's Garden". Wow. I think he cinched the job right then. ha

BUT - lucille, I meant to ask about insurance and forgot! When he calls before he comes to do the job I'll remember (I hope) to ask. I told him I was picky. I guess I'll just have to chance it. Will call the other guy and tell him I've decided to go a different way this year, leaving things open in case I have to call him next year. lol

I decided to call new guy now, he just kinda of chuckled when asked about being insured and said, "Absolutely".

Given that it is well nigh impossible to harm privet however roughly it's treated I'd risk the cheap guy. Even if he butchers it it will recover. On the other hand, he might do a great job and you'll've saved a packet.

Does it need to be so high? If it were reduced a bit it would make future cutting easier.

if you can, take some before and after photos. i'd love to see!

I'd definitely give the "new guy" the chance. But I do believe I'd be on site and observing as he was working.

I'd give the new guy a chance. I'm in the same situation where a company is hiring sub-contractors to mow our HOA entrances in the Summer, plow snow in the Winter. I called a new guy who's insured & has workmans comp, & he can prove it...for half the price. I'd like to give the new guy a chance....the HOA board is skeptical.

I like the height, esp. since it forms an arch (or tunnel effect) down thru partially on the other side. Someday perhaps when I can no longer manage, who knows what it's fate will be. And after I'm gone? I'm sure new owners will hack it to the ground. Here are some "before" pics I just went out and snapped. Will post "afters" Wednesday or when he finishes.

Actually I usually see longer growth on it, but I think because of our drought conditions this year it just isn't growing as much.

Not as high as I imagined. Looks straightforward for someone who knows what they're doing.

I have no hedges to cut but I've had a quick look at local prices and they seem to be around £60 per hour. Your first quote seems exorbitant. But maybe hedges are so common here there's a lot of competition.

Oh, it's plenty high if you saw it in person. Trimming the top is the hardest part. At one point it is 9' across. I realize hedges this size are common in the UK. Here is a photo from Nov. 2020, after it had been trimmed in Sept. and the Fall colors lit it up. The photo doesn't do the colors justice. I always refer to as looking "like England". Well, my imagination of an English countryside in Fall anyway. I know you will probably disagree. : )

It was red, yellow, bronze. Beautiful.

That's interesting. Privet is pretty much evergreen here and displays no fall colour.

Make sure He trims it slightly wider at the bottom than at the top. that lets it stay green all over. I havea different problem. I cannont get RID of privet from 5 bushes in 1980. I cannot remove sprouts fast enough, lol.

We have two gigantic yews planted in 1919. They are beautiful works of art where birds and squirrels reside. The one on the street needs pruning every year. As the prices go up until they reached almost $300 for one bush my husband went on Amazon and for $70 purchased his own and did as good a job as they did before.

Sherry, I have the same problem with a different variety of privet that a friend gave me starts of when I needed some filler at the end of the arch behind a large urn. It's the golden privet and seeds down badly. Not that the other kind never does, but this golden is much more aggressive it seems. I should have known when she said she dug them out of her flower beds.

Lily,

I still do all the boxwood and topiary trimming and other areas of privet I can reach, but the day will come when I'll have to start paying for that or remove it all. Thank goodness for cordless tools! No more dragging cords around and tripping over them.

floral, maybe I just have a Victoria magazine state of mind and remember the photos of hedges more romantically.

I love privet hedges. I had one as a privacy fence around a front courtyard in a former home. In the 20 years I lived there, I think it only grew about two feet in height, so my regular gardener was always able to prune it as a part of his regular maintenance.

I hope you have good luck with the new guy.

Some deciduous hedge species here, such as beech, hornbeam or field maple, do colour in fall but privet doesn't, although the native Ligustrum vulgare can get a purple tinge in winter.

It's your's, not mine and you see it daily and I never have. With those obvious points expressed, if this were mine, I'd have taken it out years ago. The photos suggest this place is out in the country so unless that little lane has heavy traffic, it's not like you need the hedge for privacy. What kind of view would YOU gain if it were removed?