Ascot Vale Hedge Pruning & Trimming
Hedge trimming, shaping and hard reductions in Ascot Vale — privacy screens up to 10 m, formal hedges, every clipping taken away.
- Free quotes
- Fully qualified & insured
- 16+ years

Hedge pruning and trimming in Ascot Vale, done properly
Aps Tree Removal has trimmed hedges in Ascot Vale for over 16 years, and the tall ones are our speciality: lilly pilly, pittosporum, cypress and photinia screens that have outgrown the ladder. We bring platforms, long-reach gear and the chipper, and we leave the hedge sharp and the driveway clean.
The nearest suburbs we also cover are Flemington (about a kilometre), Moonee Ponds (about a kilometre), Travancore (2 km), so a job in Ascot Vale is often paired with one next door.
We start every hedge with a look at the species and the condition, because that decides how hard it can be cut. Then the faces are cut to a line, the top levelled, the base cleared, and the clippings collected on sheets and chipped. On a tall screen the crew works from platforms and ladders with long-reach trimmers; nobody stands on a wobbly ladder in a garden bed.
Pruning, as opposed to trimming, is for hedge plants that flower or fruit: we time the cut to the plant so you do not lose next year’s flowers, and prune by hand where shears would spoil it.
Hedge Pruning & Trimming in Ascot Vale — what we do
Tall privacy hedges
Screens and boundary hedges up to 10 m, from platforms.
Formal hedges
String-lined faces, level tops, crisp corners.
Hard reductions
Overgrown hedges brought back to a workable size.
Clippings removed
Chipped and taken away; nothing left on the drive.
A tip from Api
Taper the hedge so it is narrower at the top than the bottom. Hedges in Ascot Vale that go bare at the base almost always do so because the top was left wider and shaded the bottom out.
The full service pages: Hedge Trimming and Green Waste Removal — every one available in Ascot Vale.
Guides from Api: Garden hedge trimming mistakes to avoid: timing, shape and cutting too deep
Do you need a permit to remove a tree in Ascot Vale?
The rule that applies to a tree in a Ascot Vale garden is the Activities and General Amenities Local Law 2018 — here is what it says.
Moonee Valley’s Activities and General Amenities Local Law 2018 (clause 4.31.1) says a person must not carry out works to a significant tree or canopy tree without a permit, unless the works comply with the council’s Tree and Canopy Protection Guidelines.
A canopy tree is one with a total trunk circumference of 110 cm or more measured 1.5 m above the ground, a multi-stemmed tree whose combined circumference reaches 110 cm at that height, or any tree 150 cm around at ground level. Removal goes through a Tree Removal Permit application, and the council may ask for an arborist’s or engineer’s evidence for claims about condition or damage.
Significant trees are also protected through Schedule 2 to the Environmental Significance Overlay in the planning scheme, and the state canopy-tree clause covers the residential zones.
Source: Moonee Valley City Council — trees on private property. Read 13 September 2026; councils change their local laws, so Api checks the current rule when he quotes.
Across Victoria since 15 September 2025
Clause 52.37 Canopy Trees
A canopy tree is a tree more than 5 m tall, with a trunk circumference over 0.5 m at 1.4 m above the ground and a canopy at least 4 m across. In a residential zone a planning permit is needed to remove, destroy or lop one in a residential zone if the lot is vacant, or, where there is an existing house, if any part of the trunk is within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary.
Dead trees, emergency and safety works, maintenance pruning and listed weed species are exempt; councils usually condition a permit on planting a replacement canopy tree, and most decide these through VicSmart in about ten business days.
What this means for you: tell Api where the tree sits on the block and he will tell you whether a permit is needed before anything is cut — and where one is, we can prepare the arborist assessment the application needs.
Hedge trimming jobs by Api and the crew
Real jobs, real photos — Api, the crew and the truck, across Melbourne’s north-west. Nothing staged, nothing stock.
Hedge trimming around Ascot Vale
The same crew, the same day rates, in the suburbs next door:
Other services in Ascot Vale
Tree services made easy
At Aps Tree Removal, we simplify the tree and hedge removal experience with a clear, step-by-step approach.
Contact us
Want to learn more? Call 0422 856 090 or send the form and speak with Api.
Get a quote
Getting a quote is quick, easy, and free.
On-site inspection
A quick, thorough site assessment — species, access and risks.
Professional removal
Clean and safe work, chipped and cleaned up — no mess, no hassle.
What clients across Melbourne’s north-west say
Ascot Vale Hedge Pruning & Trimming — common questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Ascot Vale?
Yes, if it is a “canopy tree”: 110 cm or more around the trunk at 1.5 m (stems of a multi-trunk tree added together), or 150 cm at ground level. Moonee Valley’s local law requires a Tree Removal Permit for works to a canopy or significant tree, and the state canopy-tree clause applies as well. Across Victoria, Clause 52.37 Canopy Trees also applies since 15 September 2025: a planning permit is needed to remove, destroy or lop one in a residential zone if the lot is vacant, or, where there is an existing house, if any part of the trunk is within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary. Api checks both at the quote.
How much does hedge trimming cost in Ascot Vale?
Length, height, growth and access — with the clippings included. A regular annual trim in Ascot Vale costs far less than a first cut on a hedge that has had five years off. Api quotes free.
How long does it take?
Half a day is typical; the clean-up is included in that.
Can you get in if the access is tight?
Yes — long-reach trimmers and platforms mean we rarely need to get behind a hedge to cut it properly.
What happens to the waste?
Sheets under the hedge as we cut, then raked, blown and chipped. The drive and the path are cleaner than when we arrived.
My hedge is bare at the bottom and too tall — can it be fixed?
It depends on the species. Many can be brought back with a staged reduction; a few cannot and are better replaced. We will give you a straight answer at the quote rather than sell you a cut that will not work.



