Regulations21 min read
Felling a tree: permission and rules
Protected woodland, listed sites, dangerous trees, tenants, nesting season: when a prior declaration is required to fell a tree in France, and how to check it at the town hall.
Hedge trimming in Lapalud and the northern Vaucluse
Laurel, cypress, photinia, thuja: Josué trims, brings hedges back to size and takes everything away. A straight hedge at the height you want, with nothing left on the ground.
Free quote
Visit and pricing with no obligation
30 km around Lapalud
Vaucluse, Drôme, Gard, Ardèche
Monday to Saturday
8am – 7pm
Green waste removed
The ground is left clean
Not sure? Describe it and Josué will take a look.
Two lines is enough. The visit and the written quote are free, with no obligation.
41 customers left a review. Every one gave five stars.
The rating comes from the company’s Google listing. You can read the reviews one by one, and leave your own after the work is done.
Google review summary
5,0
41 reviews
| 5 | 41 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 |
- What customers mention
- abattage 4
- haie 4
- prix 4
- sapin 2
Mélissa Hangard Visited in mars 2026Ponctuel, moins de 10 jours entre le premier contact, le devis et le début d’intervention. Artisan sympathique et à l’écoute des envies et des besoins. Il a également su nous conseiller pour notre projet. Je recommande fortement.
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci beaucoup pour votre retour et votre recommandation ! Nous sommes ravis que notre réactivité et nos conseils vous aient satisfait. Ce fut un plaisir de vous accompagner dans votre projet.
Gouttières alu 84 Visited in mars 2026Nous avons fait intervenir Mr Poulain chez nous pour tailler notre haie et un abattage d’un gros arbre les travaux on étais réalisé dans les temps et en toute sécurité je recommande les yeux fermer ponctuel et professionnel
Mayrone Martin Visited in mars 2026J’ai fait confiance a Mr Poulain pour venir abattre un arbre chez moi j’ai était agréablement surpris du professionnalisme et du prix très correct rien n’a redire je recommande vivement.
Alain Richard Visited in mars 2026Monsieur Poulain est un homme sérieux, ponctuel, motivé et très appliqué (plutôt rare de nos jours !!!). Il se soucie du fait que le résultat final, corresponde bien à vos attentes.
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci beaucoup pour votre message et votre recommandation. Je suis ravi que le travail réalisé ait été à la hauteur de vos attentes. Je mets un point d’honneur à être à l’écoute de mes clients afin de leur apporter un résultat soigné et conforme à leurs besoins.
Martine Verron Visited in mars 2026Taille des haies de laurier, Olivier parfaite, comme demandé. Je conseille vivement cette entreprise. Avec mes remerciements
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci pour votre avis et votre confiance. Nous sommes heureux d’avoir pu vous accompagner dans votre projet et que notre réactivité vous ait satisfait. Au plaisir de vous revoir pour de futurs travaux.
David Andres Visited in février 2026Prestation effectuée dans les temps, Travail sérieux et soigné, personne a l écoute et très professionnelle, je recommande vivement 👍
Corinne Petit Visited in mars 2026J’ai fait intervenue mr poulain pour une taie de haie nous avons été ravie de son intervention. Je recommande sans hésitation
Reply from Josué Poulain — Merci beaucoup pour votre retour et votre recommandation. Nous sommes ravis que la taille de votre haie vous ait donné satisfaction. Ce fut un plaisir d’intervenir chez vous.
Mickael Andres Visited in mai 2026Mr Poulain et intervenue chez moi pour tailler ma haie et niveau prestation et communication je recommande à 100%
Alexis Ranchini Visited in mars 2026Très bon service, réactif ! Et surtout départ en laissant tout impeccable ! Je recommande.
kriss capello Visited in février 2026Intervention très rapide et soignée, mérite largement 5 étoiles je recommande sincèrement
What it involves
A hedge that is not trimmed regularly spreads at the top, goes bare at the base, and eventually cannot be recovered without cutting it right back. A well-executed annual trim holds the shape, keeps the hedge dense all the way down, and stops it ever getting to that point.
Josué handles routine upkeep as readily as the difficult cases: a six-metre hedge to bring down to two, laurel spilling onto the pavement, cypress untouched for ten years. On those recoveries the work is sometimes split across two visits a year apart, so the hedge is not killed in one go.
The sides are trimmed slightly narrower at the top than at the bottom. That is what lets light reach the base and keeps the hedge green over its full height.
Josué travels up to 30 km from Lapalud. Check the towns covered around Lapalud — Vaucluse, Drôme, Gard and Ardèche.
What the job includes
- Written quote, free and with no obligation
- Green waste removed, unless the quote says otherwise
- Ground raked clean at the end of the job
- Both faces and the top trimmed, to the agreed height
- Recovery and resizing of hedges that have been left
- Nesting birds checked for during the breeding season
- All clippings collected, including on the neighbour’s side of a shared hedge
- Taken to the green-waste site, or chipped
- Pavement and driveway swept
When to do it
The main trim is done from late August to November. A maintenance trim is possible in spring, after flowering for flowering hedges. Between 16 March and 15 August, both the regulations and common sense require checking for nesting birds before starting: Josué checks every time and postpones the job if necessary.
While we are there, this often comes up
- height reduction by a tree surgeon — past four or five metres, a hedge is handled like a row of trees.
- year-round garden maintenance — a hedge kept every year costs far less than a rescue every five.
- taking out a dead hedge — when it has thinned out so badly that starting again is the better option.
Every species has its rule: what changes from one hedge to the next
Five species cover almost every hedge in the area. They do not grow at the same rate, they are not cut at the same time, and above all: three regrow after a hard cut back, two do not.
| Species | Growth and visits | Cutting window | Regrows from old wood? | What gives it away here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leyland cypress | Up to 1 m a year · 2 visits | Late August to November | No — no dormant bud under the bark | Clogs the blades, and the volume of waste from a hard cut always surprises |
| Thuja | 30 to 40 cm a year · 1 visit | Late August to October | No | Browns for life if you go below the green, and suffers in the dry summers of the Rhône corridor |
| Cherry laurel | 40 to 60 cm a year · 2 visits | After flowering, then September | Yes — regrows even from the stump | Use secateurs: a hedge trimmer tears the large leaves and they yellow |
| Photinia | 30 to 50 cm a year · 2 visits | After the red flush, then late summer | Yes | Black spotting if cut in damp weather |
| Privet | 40 to 60 cm a year · 2 visits | May–June, then September | Yes — takes a hard cut back | The most forgiving: it is through privet that a mixed hedge gone too tall is brought back |
Two rules hold whatever the species. Planting distances are set by article 671 of the French Civil Code — fifty centimetres from the boundary for a hedge up to two metres, two metres beyond that. And work on vegetation is to be avoided from 16 March to 15 August, the nesting season.
Hedge trimming: the mistakes we see most
Three situations that come back job after job. None is beyond repair, but all cost more to fix than to avoid.
Cutting a hedge wider at the top than at the base
This is what thins out the hedges around here. A hedge that widens towards the top shades its own foot: the base loses its leaves, then its branches, and all that is left is a green curtain on bare stems. The faces are cut slightly tapered, narrower at the top, so light reaches the bottom.
Cutting cypress or thuja back into bare wood
Neither regrows from a stripped branch: there are no dormant buds under the bark. A six-metre hedge taken down to two in one pass stays brown for good, and there is no way back. On these species you stay inside the green foliage, even if that means coming down in two passes a year apart.
Cutting between 16 March and 15 August without looking
That is peak nesting. A trimmer in an occupied hedge destroys the brood, and disturbing the nest of a protected species is an offence all year round. Checking takes two minutes before starting: if there is a nest, the job moves back a few weeks, which has never caused anyone a problem.
What it costs
The length in metres, the height, how many faces need trimming, the species (a cypress takes longer than a privet), the starting condition — a hedge kept up every year costs far less than a recovery — and the volume of waste to take away.
How it is priced
Per linear metre — the trade’s unit, and the one you will find everywhere. But a linear metre means nothing on its own: it is always crossed with the height and the number of faces to cut.
What the market charges
Comparison sites commonly quote a few euros per linear metre for a low, single-face hedge, and up to around fifteen euros per metre for a tall hedge cut on three faces with waste removed. What matters is the ratio: between those extremes, the price multiplies by four or five for the same length.
These figures are taken from national comparison sites. They are not PJ Espaces Verts’ rates: Josué prices after seeing the job, and his quote may fall outside these ranges either way. They are here so you are not calling in the dark.
What a quote is made of
- The run
- The length of hedge, measured on site. It is the basis of the calculation, and the one figure you can give over the phone with a tape in your hand.
- The height
- Below about a metre and a half the work is done from the ground. Above two metres it needs a rolling tower or a platform, and the time doubles.
- The number of faces
- One face, two faces, or two faces and the top. Plenty of quotes forget to say which, and it is the item that causes the most disagreement.
- The species
- Privet cuts quickly, Leyland cypress fights back and clogs the blades, cherry laurel produces a volume of waste unrelated to its length.
- Where it starts from
- A hedge kept every year and one rescued after ten years of neglect are not priced the same — the second sometimes needs two passes a year apart.
- The waste
- How much there is to move, and how far to the vehicle. On a cypress hedge brought back down, it is often the heaviest item on the quote.
A hedge is quoted by the metre, once it has been seen: its height, its species and the number of faces to work on change the time involved completely. The quote is written, free, and states what is included — green-waste removal is, unless stated otherwise.
The 50% tax credit: what to know
Small gardening jobs at a private home fall under France’s personal services scheme: half the cost comes back to the householder as a tax credit, up to an annual ceiling per household, and an immediate-advance option means paying only half the invoice at the time. The catch is that the work has to fall inside that category — and many websites claim it for work that does not.
This service does qualify: mowing, hedge trimming, brush clearing and routine garden upkeep are explicitly covered, including removal of the waste the job generates.
The tax credit requires a business registered under the personal services scheme. Ask Josué where that registration stands when he quotes: it changes what the work finally costs you, and he will tell you straight.
Hedge trimming: your questions
How high am I allowed to let my hedge grow?
Distance and height rules between neighbours come under the French civil code and, sometimes, the local planning rules of your commune. Josué tells you what applies at your address and trims accordingly.
My hedge is shared with my neighbour — how does that work?
The face on the neighbour’s side has to be trimmed from their property. Let them know before the visit: in practice it is settled in two minutes, and Josué clears up on both sides.
Is once a year enough?
For most hedges, yes. Fast-growing species such as cherry laurel or Leyland cypress often need two visits to stay tidy all year.
Where Josué travels
The journey, the ground and the regulations change from one town to the next. Six of them have a page of their own.
Other services
Tree felling
A dead, dangerous or too-close tree: controlled felling and stump removal.
Garden maintenance
Regular visits so your grounds stay tidy all year.
Lawn mowing
Mowing, edge finishing, clippings collected. One-off or all season.
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The visit, the on-site assessment and the written quote are free and commit you to nothing.