shear enjoyment

Hi Fran ..
I've added to GoYpedia :o)

thanks, TT. should have said in the blog that my cuting is as rough as heck, but then, this IS the first time I've cut grass for about forty years!

Fran !!
I think they make something called a "lawnmower" these days .
10 out of 10 for endeavour though .
I'm sure the excellent shears will come in handy for the shrubs and hedges .

I'd go with the gardener doing the mowing......always handy if you need help with heavy jobs.....
full marks though xxx

I've never used a power mower, so was wary of starting now, given my vision - I like my fingers and toes where they are! and a manual one would be too heavy for me.

agreed, Pam - they've got the tools, the experience and the strength to use them.

Beisdes, if I bought a mower I'd have to store it and maintain it - much better all round for them to use their own tools and take them away till I need them again.

Very sensible! Leaves you time and energy fof thd fun bits :0)

method in my madness ...

Now you've arranged the guys to keep on top of the lawn Fran - we'll be expecting to see topiary everywhere in your garden :)

Nice to see what you ended up with Fran,but even better to hear there's a gardener on the horizon! You'll have enough energy left for all the other stuff you have in mind - and maybe the gardener will be able to identify some of your unknowns and give you some tips about pruning etc - unless he's the sort of gardener who just cuts grass and hedges! It will be such a relief for you to have it all done - hope you managed to get in touch with him. (and you can stil use the shears to trim that pretty red shrub by the hedge when you want to- looks like a berberis.

lo Scottosh, a topiary dragon, maybe, like that bloke in the news? mine would be a tad shorter -- or maybe trim a srhub into a fairy? I'm not really taken with topiary, too much like ahrd work and would it belong in an environment athta I want to feel "natural", or as much as possible?

@ snoopdog, that was one of my initial options! if they could be trusted to only nibble the grass and not the flowers.

@ Stera thanks dear. he's already named a few, but local common names, which aren't the same as any other common name that's been bandied about on GoY, so not much help there!

no, he and his son cleared a couple of the more overgrown beds as well and had a go at the bindweed or whatever it turns out to be and suggested cutting back some shrubs and advised how far to take them back. Seem to be good all-rounders

they'll be coming every week in June to clear things back a bit further, then once a fortnight after that - the grass was trimmed down by levels, the son did the front lawn four times, taking it down a level each time, which sounds tood to me, rather than scalping it stragiht off.

lol wonder if later i can cade lifts to the garden centre in their van???

Fran, you've taken me back about 30 years to when I was a student in London. I was lucky enough to find lodgings in a pretty house in Golders' Green with a lovely garden at the back and even a little brook at the bottom of it. I remember the name of the street...it was Brookside Road appropriately enough! Anyway, our landlady, Anne, was not very interested in her lovely garden, so one day I went out and with a pair of her shears, I cut the whole lawn for her by hand! It was a lot bigger than yours! I was always a sucker for punishment! Later, she was married and my friend and I went to her wedding (A big Jewish wedding)at the synagogue where I sometimes sang...West Hampstead...and then on to the reception in the Hilton on Park Avenue! Happy Days!

lol glad I was able to jog you along Memroy Lane, Karen - it can be a very pleasant stroll sometimes.

The only other shears I ever tried were mum's they were heavy as hell and rusty as, as well. just lifting them and moving them about was hard work!

there were some "branch loppers" at the communal garden, but their handles were about a yard long and they weren't exactly lightweight, either.

Lol! You wouldn't want to start cutting your lawn with them Fran! Just been Google Earthing my old street!

i went back to my old street about 20+ years after we moved out. houses gone - we lived in Nissen huts, "temporary accommodation" - they were gone and proper houses put up. Felt odd to think tha t I was about 20 years older than them! even the street had changed, widened in one place

Golders Green hasn't changed much by the look of things! Which is really nice, as it was such a pretty place to live, and the local shops were very nice. :)

i suppose my old street has changed even more now, it was 25+ years since i last saw it. what seems to change most are the shops, this now selling that, pub selling fast food ...