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

Hedge pruning and trimming in Newtown, done properly
A hedge is the one plant in a Newtown garden that is meant to be cut, and cut properly: flat faces, a slight taper so the bottom gets light, and clippings gone the same day. Aps Tree Removal trims and prunes hedges of every size across Newtown and the Geelong region — from a knee-high box border to a 10 m pittosporum screen along a boundary.
The nearest suburbs we also cover are Manifold Heights (2 km), Geelong (2 km), Highton (2 km), so a job in Newtown is often paired with one next door. 1 of the reviews on this site are from customers in Manifold Heights, Geelong and Highton, next door to Newtown.
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 Newtown — 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
If a hedge is over 3 m, get it cut by people with platforms rather than a ladder on a gravel path. Most hedge accidents are falls, not cuts.
The full service pages: Hedge Trimming and Green Waste Removal — every one available in Newtown.
Guides from Api: Affordable hedge trimming in Melbourne: what drives the price and how to keep it down · Commercial hedge trimming in Melbourne: kerb appeal, safety and scheduling for businesses
Do you need a permit to remove a tree in Newtown?
Newtown is in the City of Greater Geelong area, and that decides whether a permit is needed before a tree comes down.
Greater Geelong is one of the councils without a private-tree local law: when it reviewed tree protection on private land in 2024 its officers recommended strengthening the planning scheme and asking the state for a state-wide approach rather than a local law or a significant-tree overlay.
That state-wide approach arrived in September 2025 as Clause 52.37. The council publishes its own guide: a canopy tree is more than 5 m tall with a trunk over 0.5 m around at 1.4 m and a canopy of at least 4 m; a permit is needed to remove one anywhere on a vacant residential lot, or within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary where a house already stands. Council officers may assess the application only against the clause’s own purpose and decision guidelines, and a replacement tree — at least 6 m tall and 4 m wide at maturity — is the usual condition.
Vegetation and heritage overlays on the title apply on top, especially along the Barwon and the coast.
Source: City of Greater Geelong — 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 the Geelong region. Nothing staged, nothing stock.
What customers near Newtown say
Jesse F
Geelong · Nov 2022

Quick to respond with quote, able to get to the job promptly, site was left clean and undamaged with the tree over hanging a fence. Would highly recommend them.
Hedge trimming around Newtown
The same crew, the same day rates, in the suburbs next door:
Other services in Newtown
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 the Geelong region say
Newtown Hedge Pruning & Trimming — common questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Newtown?
Greater Geelong has no local law for trees on private land — its 2024 review chose not to introduce one — so the test is the state canopy-tree clause: a planning permit for a canopy tree on a vacant residential lot, or one near the front or rear boundary of a lot with a house, decided through VicSmart in about ten business days. Overlays on the title still apply. 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 Newtown?
By the size of the hedge and the amount of growth: a light annual trim costs a lot less than a restoration cut. Regular customers pay less per visit because the hedge never gets away. Call 0422 856 090 or send photos.
How long does it take?
Usually within a fortnight, and we will suggest a better time of year if you have asked for a hard cut in the wrong one.
Can you get in if the access is tight?
Yes. Hedges on the boundary of a side path are the most common job we do in Newtown; we work from the accessible side and from platforms where the path is too narrow.
What happens to the waste?
Chipped and removed as part of the job. If you want the mulch, it is yours.
My hedge is bare at the bottom and too tall — can it be fixed?
Most species, yes: reduce the height, narrow the top so light reaches the base, feed it and give it a season. Conifers are the exception — they can be shaped but not restored from bare wood.



