My hedge trimmer. It's nuclear powered. Electric, that is. This section of the hedge didn't get trimmed last year. You see, I needed to work on another section of the hedge on the other end of the yard that had not been trimmed in over a year. So when it was time to give up, this section didn't get done.
The ladder that I need to get to the top of the hedge. As you can see, it grew rather tall. First I did the inside vertical surface and the exterior vertical surface. The latter is a pain in the butt because it's up against the neighbor's fence, and all sorts of thorny and other vines grow over into the hedge. And there's not much room to maneuver back there.
A spliced photo of my progress so far. You can't see the back. I then made some progress on the top, cutting the height down by nearly two feet in places. There is still some growth sticking up in the back at this point. I will need to get the ladder behind the hedge, between it and the fence, to slice off those bits since I can't reach them from inside the yard. That part is fun, I can assure you.
And yet another view. Aren't you glad you don't have to do this?But the good news is that I've got momentum going, the weather turned out good for a few days, and I was able to get through this first section pretty quickly.
Here's the finished job, at least on this section. That's our neighbor's house behind the hedge.Next up is the back yard. I'll start on the inside vertical surface. That shouldn't be too hard because there's no ladder involved. Then I'll do the inside top surface, with the ladder. I'm waiting to do the road side last because the mayor told us that they would fill our ditch as soon as they had some fill. It'll be much easier to do if I don't have to bridge the ditch. We shall see.
Another look at the finished hedge. The front yard section.
"Then we had lunch."... with a big jug of water!
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Walt. Your neighbors must be very happy to have you and Ken in the area... you keep everything up so beautifully!
ReplyDeleteJudy
Great job! How do you keep the top so perfectly level? If I did it, the hedge would probably be two feet lower at one end!
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
Mais non, Cousin, by now we know the favourite drink of Walt when the mercury is above 20 ° C.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the Rosé ?
Walt, when you finish you will have a manicured hedge surrounding your property.
Hi, Cousine, you're right about Rosé, White and Red, but you're wrong about the temperature. It doesn't matter how high or how low it is! LOL! MDR!
ReplyDeleteHope that ditch will be filled soon. Walt, you don't want to do acrobatics, do you?
Good hedges make good neighbors, right?
ReplyDeleteI like your blue handled nuke hedge clipper which seems to be able to do good work.
Carry on.
I feel your pain. I have alot of bushes in the bed surrounding my house. Some idiot had planted them six inches apart with the smaller ones next to the house and the taller ones in front. WTF? Anyway, after fighting them for three years I ripped those puppies out! No offence to Callie.(smile)
ReplyDeleteLooks great Walt. I think you are becoming truly French. It seems to me to be a nation of beautifully manicured hedges.
ReplyDeleteSue
Very handsome work. in Boston I planted a forsythia hedge around my house. It was breathtaking for two weeks a year. the rest of the time it required a chain saw.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was complaining about cutting down two cork screw trees last week.....your hedging job looks more involved.
ReplyDeleteBy the way....we cut the trees down to make room for fruit trees.
Victoria, Bellingham, WA
stop goofing off and get back to work!
ReplyDeletechm, yeah, water, that's it.
ReplyDeletejudy, actually, they do a better job than we do. But they hire people.
bettyann, I'm glad it looks level, because it really isn't. I do it all by eye.
beaver, the rosé is in the fridge until lunchtime. I try not to climb ladders or use power tools after wine o'clock.
evelyn, that's for sure!
kendall, we've been told that our hedges all froze one year and grew back from the ground up. I would feel too exposed if we lost the hedges.
sue, voilà!
will, we have two forsythia bushes in the garden, and they do love to grow. But I think a hedge of them could be nice. Probably no more work than I'm already doing.
victoria, I'm not sure what a corkscrew tree is. I'll have to google it.
urspo, awww, you're just jealous.