The Whitstable Hedge Standard.

Why a separate standard for this patch

Most hedge-care advice online is written for an inland English garden: predictable soil, no salt, a hedge that scorches only from drought or disease. That advice quietly fails on a Tankerton seafront plot or a harbour-side cottage garden, where salt wind, shingle drainage and a conservation area all change what "doing the job properly" actually means. This page is the standard we hold ourselves to so you don't have to translate generic advice yourself.

Before we quote

1. We ask what the hedge is doing, not just what you want done.

Browning, dieback, bare patches and overgrowth each have a specific cause. We diagnose before we price, because the wrong fix on the right symptom wastes your money.

2. We check exposure before we recommend species or timing.

A seafront hedge on Island Wall and a hedge in a sheltered Chestfield garden are not the same job, even if the species name on the label is identical.

3. We check the conservation-area map before quoting anything with a stem over 75mm.

The harbour and old town sit inside the Whitstable Conservation Area. If your address is inside it and the job needs a section-211 notice, that goes into the quote up front, not as a surprise later.

On every job

4. Nesting season respected, no exceptions.

Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to damage an active bird's nest. We do not cut hedges with active nests between 1 March and 31 August without a competent check confirming they're clear.

5. Fixed price, agreed before we start.

No day-rate creep. If a job runs longer than we scoped, that's our estimating error, not your bill to cover.

6. All arisings cleared and disposed of properly.

We carry an Environment Agency upper-tier waste-carrier registration. Nothing gets burned on site or left in a pile "for the council."

7. A proper job, or you don't pay.

You walk the hedge with us before payment changes hands. If it's not right, we fix it or you owe nothing.

What this standard changes in practice

On a seafront job, it means recommending Escallonia or Griselinia over beech, even if beech is what the neighbour has. On a harbour-area job, it means checking the conservation-area boundary before we quote, not after we've started cutting. On an inland Chestfield job, it means treating the heavier clay soil and lower exposure as licence to plant more demanding species, not applying the same coastal caution everywhere out of habit.

Sources: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 s.1; Town and Country Planning Act 1990 s.211; Canterbury City Council conservation area guidance (Whitstable Conservation Area); Environment Agency waste carrier registration requirements.