Hedge Trimming Update

We interrupt the Auvergne series to bring you an up-to-the-minute report on the annual fall hedge trimming process. We knew you'd want to know. I've started, in earnest, to attack the hedge and now have made some real measurable progress.

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.