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

Hedge pruning and trimming in Norlane, done properly
Norlane, Corio, Bell Park and Bell Post Hill: the hedges are much the same across the area — fast-growing screens planted for privacy that now need managing. We trim, shape and reduce them, clear overgrown boundary hedges back to a workable width, and take every clipping away.
The nearest suburbs we also cover are Corio (2 km), Bell Park (2 km), Bell Post Hill (3 km), so a job in Norlane is often paired with one next door.
Formal hedges get string lines and a slight batter — narrower at the top than the bottom — so the base keeps its leaves. It is the detail that separates a hedge that stays dense for twenty years from one that goes see-through in five.
Overgrown boundary hedges — the ones that have swallowed the path or leaned into next door — are cut back to a straight face, thinned where they are congested, and the base cleared so you can see what you have. If the neighbour’s side needs doing too, that can be arranged with them.
Hedge Pruning & Trimming in Norlane — 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
Feed and water a hedge after a hard reduction. It has just lost half its leaves and needs help putting them back.
The full service pages: Hedge Trimming and Green Waste Removal — every one available in Norlane.
Guides from Api: Hedge cutting services: hard cuts, height reductions and hedge renovations in Melbourne · Garden hedge trimming mistakes to avoid: timing, shape and cutting too deep
Do you need a permit to remove a tree in Norlane?
Homeowners in Norlane ask this more than anything else, so here is Greater Geelong’s rule as the council publishes it.
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.
Hedge trimming around Norlane
The same crew, the same day rates, in the suburbs next door:
Other services in Norlane
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
Norlane Hedge Pruning & Trimming — common questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Norlane?
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 Norlane?
By the job, quoted on site, free. Tell Api the height you want and whether you would like it on a yearly schedule; repeat customers pay less per visit because the hedge never gets away.
How long does it take?
A few hours for a standard trim in Norlane; a day for a long, tall or badly overgrown hedge. Booked to the right season for the species.
Can you get in if the access is tight?
Yes. Most Norlane hedges are on a side or rear boundary with a metre to work in; platforms and long-reach gear mean we rarely need to get behind them.
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?
Often. Pittosporum, lilly pilly, photinia, viburnum and murraya all come back from a staged reduction. If yours is a cypress that has gone brown inside, Api will tell you honestly that replacing it is the better spend.



