Cant go Sailing - what shall we do instead?
By seaburngirl
9 comments
Not that I was asked this question but this in essence is what went through my husband’s head as he looked at the 5 day weather forecast.
Reduce the privet hedge by 3 ft.
The electric hedge trimmer was struggling so OH headed off to get a petrol driven one, capable of cutting stems 3.75cm in diameter. Now our greenhouse is about 1m away from the hedge and on a couple of occasions I had visions of OH crashing through the green house. The cause was the relatively unstable ground.
Now at this point let me explain: over the last 18yrs that we have been in this property I have never been involved in the hardest jobs ie hedges so I have not been responsible for the non clearance of the trimmings. OH declares ‘had enough of this I’m going to concrete a path then you can clean the greenhouse glass easier too’.
2 trips to the tip each time with 4 large bags of trimmings and 7 rubble bags of dug out soil and a 3rd ready to load and we are nearly there. The 2 trips don’t sound like much but there was a loaded trailer and the VW van full too.
You can see the height of the retaining wall on the left in the previous photo and on the right in the next photo.
Then amazingly we hit the bottom of the 18yrs of debris and guess what? Paving slabs : yes paving slabs.
When we moved in we had to level the garden and we did it by building a retaining wall and at that point OH and his dad must have laid them.
They also put steps down to them but the bottom step is about 11" high so OH has added a new step too. All the hard core is down in the photo and the cement mixer is working away. Its now covered with a tarpaulin to keep the rain off it; the cats, fox and birds.
Well perhaps now he will pick the trimmings up but if its like the decorating I’ll end up doing the tidying up.
The only casualty I found was a Lysimachia cletheroides. My fault for planting it too close to the hedge apparently.
We have a nice view across the fields now.
The neighbours are chuffed too as there garden is about 1m lower than ours and they have less shade now too.
11 Aug, 2014
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Comments
Hi Sbg, good job there, well done, I have to tackle a privet hedge that needs reducing by about 5 ft, about 40 ft long, I might get around to it some day, Derek.
11 Aug, 2014
Ah Derek I can sympathise, ours is the full length of the back garden and level with the front of the house, over 100ft easy. There is about 30ft in the front garden too but the lilacs and Philadelphus sort of obscure it.
Yes it has Scottish but we still have about 1cubic m of sand/gravel left over from when we concreted the drive.
11 Aug, 2014
What a lovely view, Sbg! The hedge looks good - a lot of hard work but really worth it, I should think.
11 Aug, 2014
I think doing that,would be preferable to me going sailing,Sbg..:o) and what a difference it makes to yours and your neighbours view..Don't you just feel satisfied with a job well done? it looks great...now,about all that left over sand/gravel ! you will find a use for it one day ..:o)
12 Aug, 2014
That looks great! what a difference it's made to your view and no wonder your neighbours are pleased with the added light to their garden :)
Now, while the OH is in a 'working' mood take a look around to see if there's anything else which could with his muscle :) :)
12 Aug, 2014
Oh My!! why do we put ourselves through all this, I can remember how long it took to clear out our old compost corner years back when I became modern and purchased the plastic bins, mind you apart from some of my son's old soldiers and a few toy cars I didn't uncover a treasure like yours. So pleased we don't have all that hedging to cut, it will make a huge difference in both the gardens and its nice to be able to see over.
Glad I'm not the only one that gets lumbered with the clearing up jobs....
12 Aug, 2014
I do too :( But at least I don't have to cut the hedges so lets count our blessings. How fantastic to uncover a ready made path! that and the new view must have made all that effort so rewarding. Looks great.
12 Aug, 2014
Yes, I do see what you mean, Sbg. They're tough plants, so it might be OK. I might be able to dig you up a root later, anyway, if you'd like a piece?
Like the new view! :-))
13 Aug, 2014
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Worth every bit of effort just for the view SBG. I'll bet OH was very pleased when he discovered those slabs. That saved him a bit of time and effort.
You'll need to supervise the clearing up from now on.....on the other hand, probably not or you'd be left to do it!
11 Aug, 2014