Saturday 16 August 2014

HEDGE CUTTING AND THE LEFTOVERS!

Today we had to cut back a hedge that runs along the left hand side of our garden that's about 70 ft long! and it's not even our Hedge!!

It belongs to our neighbour who is a very good neighbour and when we first moved in, he paid for the hedge to be cut on our side when his side was done.
But as we redesigned the garden and put our plants in the way of getting easily to the hedge , the gardener who came to cut it would land up destroying or damaging our plants! So we told our neighbour we would cut the hedge!!

Which seven years ago was not such hard work but now it is ! Not only are we cutting this hedge we then have to go to the recycling which all the cutting.



This is the first part of the hedge still needing cutting, it runs behind our workshop which is 18 ft long, so Paul lands up cutting the top of hedge while sitting on the roof!
Due to one thing and another this part of the hedge did not get cut back last year, so there is even more to cut back.


The other end of the workshop with the hedge waiting to be cut.



Here is the far end of the hedge that's now been cut along the side but still needs the top doing , which requires the use of a ladder.


Just some of the cuttings that will need to be taken to the recycling centre.


A slightly wonky view of the cut hedge from the workshop to the back gate, still lots of cuttings to clear away.


These are some of the brambles that grow through the hedge and then snag on us and also re root themselves in our flowers!! Because they come from the middle of the hedge they are hard to get rid of completely.


At last the hedge is finished, one trip to the recycling done but another needed! We are now planning to cut the hedge back and put in a fence up against it, so that it will reduce the amount of cutting we will need to do to maintain it on our side. Hopefully this will help with the brambles also.It will have to be done a few panels at a time due to the amount of work and the cost involved.



Also on that side of the garden our neighbour as a mock orange shrub!! More like a row of trees! Again every couple of years we have to cut it back because it started to bury our gazebo roof! You can see Paul looking into find the edge of our roof line!


He's going in!! Will he be able to find his way back? I do hope so!!


Well Paul managed to find the edge of the roof but of course now we have loads more cuttings to take to the recycling.
It is still too high and stops light getting into the kitchen windows in the early morning, so we will talk to neighbours about cutting back more of the height.They are lovely neighbours but not gardeners, so things do tend to get left to grow as they will .


So at least two more trips to the recycling centre with 'not' our rubbish but at least it's been done and apart from cutting yet more off the mock orange once we have spoken to neighbour , the job at this moment is finished.


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8 comments:

  1. Poor Paul! What a mammouth task indeed! I think that I would have just been tempted to remove the planting on your side and let him pay for 'professionals' to trim it again now that it has grown so tall and wide.
    There is, I believe, a law that says that whatever you cut/trim that is over hanging on your property from a neighbour's plant/tree actually has to be thrown back over to their side.... BUT guessing that as they are good neighbours you wouldn't want to do that!

    One of my neighbours has a very prickly stemmed bush that they have trimmed into a tree that grows higher than my two metre fence and so when he hires a gardener to trim it, some stems do fall amongst my plants so when I see or hear him doing it I call and tell him that I have unlocked the sidegate for him to come and collect the fallen cuttings as with not being able to wear any gardening gloves they are just too sharp and prickly for me to collect up.

    On your last post I did comment with a question about my Agapantus plants but now I see that it obviously didn't get published....SO trying again.
    Chon gave me three of these plants (in white) for a present about three/four years ago. They were in flower and I planted them in my tubs/planters but as I use these now to grow my Runner Beans in I have had to plant them out in my front garden. Being only semi-hardy I have them dug up and put into pots in October and then store them in the garage until the Spring. Unfortunately they have only flowered once since then so I'm wondering having seen yours here whether this constant up-rooting etc is having a bad effect?
    Therefore should I just leave them in the same position and risk them not being killed by the frosts (and if so, would they benefit from being covered with fleece) or by some more large containers so that they can be more easily moved under cover for the Winter months and so not have their roots continually disturbed?

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  2. It was indeed a mammouth task and when the neighbour's garden came round to do it he would trample our plants and leave most of the cuttings behind! So it is better we do it ourselves! Hopefully when we put the fence in it will reduce the amount that needs doing!
    We did receive your comment for the previous post and replied! don't know where they went! anyway I have put your comment and our answer back in place and will also put answer here.

    Thank you kendal. The Agapanthus like to have restricted roots to assist n flowering, so it could be that when you are replanting into garden you are loosening the roots ball which they would not like. Also once they have flowered they like a lot of water or this will again restrict the growth of flowers the following year.They must have their soil kept moist until Autumn.

    We keep ours in the pots and store them in the greenhouse over winter without watering until spring.They must be planted or put in full sun or you may just get lots of lovely leaves but no flowers. If you feed them weekly during the growing season until flowers begin to show their colour you should get a good result.
    Hope that information helps you get a great display next year, so you need to be out there with the watering can or hose!!
    Dee xx

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  3. Thanks Denise! Have now read your reply here (and also in one of your previous posts) and am now going to do just as you have suggested in the hope of a good display next year.

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  4. That's quite a big job. And working on the high place is risky. Safety first, please!

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    1. It is a big job and we always work safely, the roof is very sound and I am on watch for any problems.

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  5. Blimey Dee, rather you than me! I think you definitely need a little chat with the nice neighbours, they probably don't even give it a thought that you're having all this work to do! And Paul probably won't always want to be getting up there on the roof to cut it....it'll be like a trifid!! :)
    I'm sure once it's done it looks lovely though!
    Hugs Sharon xxx

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    1. That is what will happen, we'll eventually be too old to climb on the roof to cut it back, although we can also cut if from their garden. which is what Paul will do once he's had a friendly chat.
      Once it's done we'll be getting some lovely early morning sunshine into the kitchen in the winter months.
      Hugs Dee xx

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  6. The purpose of hedge cutting is to prevent dead or dying branches from damaging neighboring plants and people. By removing these branches, you can make the flowers or fruits on the hedge bloom. Unlike maintenance pruning, pruning is not to slow down the growth of the hedge, but to stimulate it. Other reasons for gardeners to trim hedges are to remove diseased or insect-infested branches.

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