Hedge and Grass Trimmers and Edgers

Trimmers and edgers

Edging, trimming and hedge work are three jobs, not one line item

The lawn gets mowed by one occupation and the edges get finished by several. That is not a distinction quotes usually make, but the federal wage data makes it plainly. In May 2025 BLS put landscaping and groundskeeping workers, the mowing crew, at a median hourly wage of $18.82.¹ Tree trimmers and pruners, a separate occupation of 55,160 workers, came in at $24.50 median hourly and $55,970 a year.¹

That gap is the useful thing to carry into a conversation about hedges. String trimming a fence line and cutting a mature hedge back to a line are not the same work, and the second one drifts into an occupation the federal government pays a different wage. If a lawn company quotes hedge or overhead pruning at its mowing rate, ask who is actually going to do it.⁵

There is a third occupation hiding in the same corner of the garden. Chemical control along fences, kerbs and hard edges belongs to pesticide handlers, sprayers and applicators, 27,050 of them in vegetation work at a $22.28 median hourly wage, and it is the only part of this work with federal certification rules attached.¹³

Six tools for the edges, and what each one commits you to

These machines look interchangeable on a shelf and are not: they differ in reach, in what they cut, and in who is qualified to run them.

String trimmers

A spinning nylon line for grass the mower cannot reach: fence lines, post bases, tree wells and awkward corners. This is standard mowing crew work, included in most visit quotes rather than priced separately. BLS puts that crew's median hourly wage at $18.82.¹ Ask whether trimming is in your scope or an extra.

Brushcutters

The heavier version, running a blade rather than line, for woody growth, brambles and neglected ground. It is the tool for a reclamation job rather than a weekly one. Because it cuts material a string trimmer cannot, scope and disposal both change: ask what happens to the arisings before agreeing a price.

Hedge trimmers

Reciprocating blades for shaping and reducing hedges. Cost here is driven by hedge height, length and access rather than by garden size. Anything requiring a ladder, a platform or overhead work moves toward the tree trimming and pruning occupation, which BLS pays a $24.50 median hourly wage.¹

Stick edgers and wheeled edgers

A vertical blade that cuts a defined line between turf and paving, drive or bed. Unlike trimming, edging is measured in linear feet rather than area, so a small lot with long drives and paths can carry more edging than a big open one. Confirm which edges are included.

Pole pruners and pole saws

Reach tools for branches above head height. This is where a lawn visit crosses into tree work. BLS counts 55,160 tree trimmers and pruners at a $26.91 mean hourly wage and $55,970 mean annual wage, well clear of the mowing crew.¹ Different occupation, different risk, different price.

Chemical edging along hard lines

Herbicide instead of a blade along fences and kerbs. EPA's certification standards apply to restricted use pesticides, with a federal minimum age of 18 for certified applicators and for anyone using those products under a certified applicator's direct supervision.³ Ask which products are being used before agreeing to it.

Tree trimmer and pruner median hourly wage, BLS May 2025$24.50

Mowing crew median hourly wage, same table$18.82

What does it cost?

No authoritative source publishes a price for trimming, hedging or edging, and none is invented here. What is published is the wage profile of each occupation involved, and the three do not match. Landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 952,640 of them, earned a $20.33 mean hourly wage and a $18.82 median in May 2025. Tree trimmers and pruners, 55,160 workers, earned $26.91 mean hourly and $24.50 median. Pesticide handlers, sprayers and applicators in vegetation work, 27,050 workers, earned $22.63 mean hourly and $22.28 median.¹⁵ A single bundled line item is averaging three different pay profiles.

What moves your number is the shape of the edges rather than the size of the lawn. Edging is measured in linear feet, so paths, drives and bed borders matter more than area. Hedge work is driven by height, length and whether a ladder or platform is needed, because that is what pushes the job toward the better paid occupation. Disposal of cuttings is a separate cost from cutting them. And BLS notes that this work is seasonal, available mainly in spring, summer and autumn, which is when the crews are hardest to book.²

All wages above are Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 figures for the named occupations, cited in the sources; they are what workers are paid, not what a company charges, and they exclude equipment, disposal, insurance and margin.

Hiring

How to hire for trimming and hedge work

1

Who does the work

String trimming and edging normally sit inside a mowing visit, done by the same crew. Hedge reduction and anything above head height moves toward tree trimmers and pruners, a distinct BLS occupation of 55,160 workers paid a $24.50 median hourly wage against the crew's $18.82.¹ Chemical work along edges belongs to a third occupation with federal certification standards attached.³

2

What pros will ask

How many linear feet of edge there are and which edges you want cut: drives, paths, kerbs and bed borders. Hedge length, height and species, and how far back you want it taken. Whether ladders or pole work are needed. Where irrigation heads sit along the edges. Whether cuttings are taken away or left. Whether you want any chemical control at all.

3

What to check before signing

Confirm which of trimming, edging and hedge work are in the visit price and which are extras. If anyone will spray, ask which products and whether any are restricted use, since that triggers federal certification standards including a minimum age of 18.³ EPA's general advice for hiring landscape help is to confirm the contractor is licensed and bonded and then ask about training and certifications.⁶

Trimmer and edger questions, answered straight

Why is hedge work quoted higher than mowing?

Because it is a different occupation with a different federal wage profile. BLS put landscaping and groundskeeping workers at a $18.82 median hourly wage in May 2025 and tree trimmers and pruners at $24.50, with mean annual wages of $42,290 and $55,970 respectively.¹⁵ Height, access and the equipment needed all push hedge and overhead work toward the second group. A company charging its mowing rate for ladder work is either subsidising it or sending someone who does not normally do it.

Do I need a separate company for tree and hedge work?

No source says you must, and plenty of lawn companies carry people who do both. What the wage data shows is that they are separate occupations, which is a reason to ask rather than assume. The useful question is not who you hire but who turns up: ask whether the person doing the overhead work does that work regularly, and what equipment they will bring. Get the hedge work priced as its own line so you can see what you are paying for it.¹

Is spraying weeds along the fence regulated?

Partly. EPA's certification standards apply to restricted use pesticides. For those, the federal minimum age is 18 for certified applicators and for anyone using them under a certified applicator's direct supervision, and the 2017 rule set a maximum recertification interval of five years.³ A great deal of routine edge treatment uses general-use products that this federal rule does not reach, and state licensing of commercial applicators is a separate layer not covered here. Ask which products are being applied.

Should I worry about trimmers and edgers near my sprinkler heads?

No source used here measures how often that happens, so this guide will not claim a number. What EPA does publish is what to check afterwards. Its sprinkler checklist is four steps: inspect, connect, direct and select.⁴ Two specifics are worth running at the end of a trimming season. Each sprinkler should reach the head next to it, which EPA calls head-to-head coverage, and water pooling on the surface between irrigation cycles can indicate an underground leak.⁴

What should trimming and edging cost?

No government agency, regulator or trade association publishes a figure, and the averages circulating online come from lead aggregators that state neither method nor sample. What you can do is make the quote comparable. Ask for edging priced by the linear feet you actually have, hedge work priced separately by length and height, and disposal listed on its own. Then check the labour underneath it against the published wages: $18.82 median hourly for crew work, $24.50 for tree and pruning work.¹

Sources

Where these facts came from

Every figure on this page was read out of the page linked below. We do not cite cost aggregators.

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