where has all the privet gone?

Gosh that was some height that hedge well out of control .

It must have been so dark in the house .

Well done you .

Now! That looks much better and is at the right height to give you privacy and light into your home. Well Done :)

Why did the previous owners want it so high? I would have hated looking at that block from my window instead of seeing the outside world walking by...hmmm!

that may well green up nicely for you. there also seems to be some nice rope edged tiles down there too.
I have a soft spot for them, I was given a load and I 've used them all over the garden.

That was TALL wasn't it ! It must be much lighter in your house now ... and it will probably regrow nicely in the spring, and then you can keep it the height you want :o)

rope edge is very nice - i might have to move them to the safety of the back yard. i cut out some of the bare stems this morning in between the 'showers'. Most of the hedges round here are this high - i don't understand why, unless it's due to landlords only trimming them once when the students leave in summer. they're mostly well trimmed but very high.
Sledge hammer to the raised beds next weekend!

Your house reminds me of the house my aunt lived in,
both back and front, she allowed her front hedge to grow very tall then went upstairs to the bedroom if she wanted to see what was happening outside, lol, she grew marvellous Dahlias in her little back yard even though the garden was mainly ash tipped over the garden during her years of living there, over 50yrs worth....
Good luck with the hammer......

We put a privet in, then ten years later, decided to take it out all together, best thing we ever did, it took up so much room, and took all the goodness out of the soil, did a blog about it, if your interested...

Just come across this - is the hedge greening up now?

I chopped it down even lower (to about 6-9 inches) to what appeared to be just the old trunks and yep - it's sprouting! If there are no cars about tomorrow I'll take a pic. At least it will only be a little hedge not the monster that it was (and the bank balance won't stretch to railings just yet)

Oh yes please do.....

Its indestructible stuff!

Current pic added above. I wish I'd taken a pic when the daffs were in flower. Looks like only one of the cyclamen I planted survived being covered in rubble by the builders but I'm hoping they'll come up later in the year.

Wow that is what I call a prune.......do keep us posted would love to see future photos.....

And now we can see your nice rope edging too.