Box hedge care for the gardens where box actually matters.

What's included

• Clipping to a genuinely straight or curved line, by hand where the shape demands it
• Blades sterilised with methylated spirits between properties and, where blight is suspected, between individual plants
• Clippings bagged and taken off-site, never composted where blight is present
• A visual blight assessment on every visit, flagged to you honestly rather than ignored
• Timing set around Derby Day (the first Saturday in June) for the first cut, avoiding scorch on freshly-clipped leaves in full sun

Ask us: is my box hedge blighted, and can it be saved?

If you're seeing orange-brown patches, leaf drop, and black streaking on the stems, that's very likely box blight (Cylindrocladium buxicola), and it's widespread across Kent gardens now, not just Rochester's. A mild case can sometimes be managed with strict hygiene (the sterilising and off-site disposal above) and improved air flow through thinning. A heavily blighted hedge usually can't be saved and is better replaced. We'll give you an honest read on which category yours is in, not a sales pitch either way.

Ask us: what should I plant instead of box?

Ilex crenata (Japanese holly) is the most convincing box substitute - same tight small-leaved look, clips the same way, immune to box blight. Euonymus japonicus 'Green Spire' and dwarf yew (Taxus baccata) are the other two we'd genuinely recommend for a formal low hedge in a Rochester garden, particularly in the Conservation Area where a hedge needs to still look "right" against a historic frontage.

Pricing

Box hedge and edging work is priced by length and complexity of shape rather than height - a straight run of low edging is quick; a series of clipped balls or a knot-garden pattern takes considerably longer. Typical range £100 – £350 per visit for domestic box hedging.