Ooh, bonus compost! I grabbed a rake and began shaking the hedge to make it drop all the decomposed matter to the bottom, where I worked it into the surrounding soil around the pavers, which needs amending, so I can plant ground cover. With the detritus removed, all the dead limbs on the interior of the hedge stood out like sore thumbs.
Out came the hand pruners! And away went the dead limbs. A large pile of prunings began forming under the hedge. I should have stopped there, but I noticed that a lot of branches were crossed and trying to grow around each-other and thought "well, that can't be good for them!"So then I pruned off crossing branches, and grabbed the loppers for the larger limbs. The result up-close was a nice, airy space for new growth to come in. Except, of course, two problems:
1) I'd gotten the itch to prune in summer, rather than dormant season, so conditions aren't ideal for the hedge to recover from the shock. This summer has been relatively cool, so I'm hoping that won't be much of a problem. 2) When I took a step back to get the big picture, I realized I'd pruned big, fat holes into the hedge. It's hideous! Where this last photo shows empty space, there used to be a carpet of leaves. Now it looks like the bad haircut mama gave you and sent you to school with, so the other kids could laugh mercilessly at you.
It took a few hours, plus 3 different types of cutting implements, a rake, and a shovel (to work the compost into the soil) to ruin a boxwood that my grandfather took years to shape and train. Defeated, I turned toward the house, looked up and noticed the cedar bonsai also had decomposing material stuck in its branches. I grabbed the rake and shook out as much as possible, and realized that it, too, was in dire need of pruning...
Hey MMMM...you wanna come do my garden, sounds like you know what you're doing.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom keeps telling me not to worry "It will come back," so I share her wisdom with you. I dug my hedge up, I could never get that pruning, shaping thing quite right.
ReplyDeleteThere are some people who should never be running around with scissors in their hands..ha ha!
ReplyDeleteMy dad was a barber and one of the things I learned from him is when you're cutting hair, you take just a LITTLE bit off at at time, then step back and look at it...if it needs more, then you take a little bit more off, and so on until you get the desired look. 'Cause once it's too short, all you can do is wait for it to grow back again.
Whoever had this house before us put three hollies under the living room window, in a cramped space...that have to be pruned ten times a year as they are the fastest growning bush on the planet in their mature years. We started pruning them this morning (way late, like you, but because it went from spring to 95degrees plus humidity). I'm tempted to do just what you did, except cut them to the ground as you could never actually dig these up. I hate them, but they're green all year round, and are a wonderful home for the birds all year round.
ReplyDeleteAs for yours, just prune them as short as possible without actually killing them, and they'll come back better than ever. And then put your clippers away!
I'd love to go to Australia, EarthGipsy! But I don't know if you should trust your garden to me.
ReplyDeleteThis hedge is nothing, Jules. I have a gigantic bonsai in my front yard I've been avoiding for years that is in dire need of shaping.
Speaking of barbers, did you know I also cut my own hair, Tim? I'm too impatient to sit in that darn chair for an hour!
I'm not thrilled with the hollies, either, Linda, although for me it's because I wear sandals a lot and am constantly pricking myself with the leaves. It's good to know the boxwood will recover (although I don't know how much pruning they can take without dying). My cats depend on the safety of the boxwood to get away from Piglet! It's that border collie urge to chase anything that moves.
rofl -- I read this post always waiting for the big holes to appear ... pruning is dangerous ... one gets in this meditative state of mind ... schnippschnappschnippschnapp ... the world around vanishes ... schnippschnapp .... and then you wake up: surrounded by holes .... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI cut my own hair too...the last stylist I went to (about 20 years ago) ruined it so badly I said NEVERMORE!
ReplyDeleteI'm pruning one of the bonsais today, Martina. It's going more smoothly than the boxwood, although I did accidentally yank a couple of branches off the tree I didn't intend to yank off. I was trying to pull them in the direction I wanted them to grow.
ReplyDeleteOnly one stylist has ever messed up my hair and she was still a student, Tim. But my hair is so long now it doesn't really need shaping or styling, just an occasional snip of the split ends.
Hi I liked the blog, and I'm following!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment, and the follow.
ReplyDelete