The art of hedge trimming

Hedges have been the theme of this week and Heale, being and 8 acre garden, has a lot of them. They sure do take some work and on the hottest day of British summertime, we cut and cut and cut!

We trimmed Portugese Laurel into squares with balls on top, huge plants and at 6 ft tall even I couldn't get to the top with my hedge trimmer. So much of gardening requires creativity and even hedge trimming allows a freedom for the person doing the cutting. It is kind of like sculpting I guess, moving the blade over the plant kind of like moulding clay. Heavy work for me and smelly too but very satisfying. Over two days we also cut Viburnum, Buxus, Yew and Osmanthus amongst others. Everything is now back in it's place and you can pass up and down steps easily.

We continue to care for single cordon Sweet peas, twice weekly removing tendrils, side shoots, tying in and harvesting flower stems. I love doing this, now the plants are off it is great to see them continue to thrive. The scent is pretty good too. We do the same for the Tomatoes, care for them daily, removing side shoots, tying in and feeding. Heale Tomatoes are lucky Tomatoes!

My plant of the week has to Eremurus bungei, yellow spires standing proud above the Lavender, they look glorious. 

Or could it be Magnolia grandiflora 'Bull Bay', the flowers on it are huge, too big to capture in a pic. You really have to get up close to it and the scent is very delicate.

The glare of the sun could have been unbearable today but a gentle breeze and almost clear blue sky made for a perfect setting. The house looked great today and the sound of the river as you stroll past, bliss. Just have to ignore the terrible racket that shatters the peace, the hedge trimmer!