[Growster...]

We had some fine weather this weekend, and bit the bullet...

As expected, the hedge was full of all sorts of plants, especially yew and elm, but we did a quarter on Saturday, another quarter yesterday, and are hopelessly aching as a result!

[compostqueen]

It kills  your arms doesn't it.  I can usually manage one session and then have to spend days recovering before I can tackle another section 

You could always get a man in 

[snowdrops]

Wot you saying about Growster

[compostqueen]

Sssssssssssssh 

[sunshineband]

That is going splendidly, Growster 

I am surprised you can even move your arms to type by now though tbh

[Growster...]

If I had a 'fertile' mind, I'd reckon that these are the best compliments I'm ever going to get! You've all made an old Growster very happy!

As it is, the aches on the elbows are receeding (rather like the hair), and Mrs G was out there all morning cutting up the small stuff so we can use it on the paths as a mulch!

(I've been working inside - chance of a money-making job, not a time-waster...)!

That blasted hedge was over three ft thick, and one yew piece took me an hour, and that stuff doesn't 'munch' easily, so we'll have to burn it, unless anyone has any better ideas?

[compostqueen]

I still have loads of my hedge prunings under the lotty hedge and I use them as kindling for my allotment fires (when I can have one as I have a property next to me so I have to be considerate). The longer, thicker branches will be used for bean supports, the twiggier stuff gets used to peas and keeping rabbits and pigeons off the seedlings.  The thick log type prunings are getting sawn up as and when I need fuel for the fire, and I've even used it for cooking my dinner and boiling my kettle when I had no gas.  I don't waste anything me 

Also, they have provided shelter for all sorts of wildlife while they've been stashed under the hedge. I have some good pieces for logs drying outside but under my allotment table, and I saw a lump off as required. It's heavy going as I only have a hand saw 

[Growster...]

They do make good firewood, don't they CQ!

We're going to do something similar, and hopefully the big pile of stuff will degenerate...

(The pics were taken througha double glazed window - it was a bit parky when we started..;0)

[carlrmj]

   I know what you mean by killing your arms when cutting a hedge.

   My first house had a garden 150ft long and 30ft wide ,with hedging on all three sides.

  You could never grow anything beneath it ,cutting took an eternity and disposing of the

  cuttings was a nightmare,and had to be done several times  a year.

  The next door neighbour left his hedge uncut at the end of the garden and it was about

 20ft high .

[compostqueen]

I've got a hedge cutter and it's not very big or heavy until you've been wielding it above your head for about five minutes.  My arms get so painful I can't even switch the light on 

[Growster...]

Know the feeling about the arms...

We have a photo taken about 1875, which shows the old house, with the same hedge about 4' high, and cut to a point, and we're going to try and copy that, as it obviates the cutting of a flat topped hedge, and I can reach it easily!

Mrs G said that she could also do the cutting with hand shears if she wanted to, which is a welcome suggestion, as we could both get out there, and finish it all in a morning!

The pics above also show a Japonica, which has been there for well over 100 years, and flowers first every year...

[sunshineband]

Hedges cut to a pointed top always look rather swish I think 

and as you say, Growster, are certainly easier to cut. 

[allotmentann]

Growster how lovely to know so much of the history of your hedge and yew. It looks like a very interesting front garden.
Getting rid of woody prunings is a real pain. I have a beech hedge and try to trim it at least once a month in the summer to stop problem getting too bad, I am afraid I am very lazy and let all the trimmings lie where they land in the border, but they do seem to be instantly hidden by shrubs. We have no garden waste collection where I am, so it has been taking me ages to lose  prunings from other shrubs in compost making or the wheelie bin.  Now I am trying Bob Flowerdew's advice. Some of the bigger bits I am making into piles and tucking away in hidden spaces for the wildlife, but most of it is staying where it falls more or less and I have been surprised how little I notice it and how quickly it vanishes!
Hedge trimming does seem to be particularly hard on the arms, I have decided to give up on the electric hedge trimmer and even if it takes me several days to do it, bit by bit, I am going to use the shears. I hate the noise of the hedge trimmer, shears are peaceful and pleasant. (I hate the noise of my lawn mower too, I am planning on getting a push one this year. The noise of a push mower reminds me of light summer nights as a child and the lovely sound of grass cutting. As my lawn gets smaller all the time, because the borders get bigger  it should be quite manageable!).

[Growster...]

Hedges cut to a pointed top always look rather swish I think 

and as you say, Growster, are certainly easier to cut. 

I'll try and post a pic of it all those years ago, KC.

The old house here was bombed during WW2, and rebuilt in the early fifties, so up to about fifteen years ago, it looked a bit sparse, until we 'Growstered' it...!

We're lucky really, because we'd never have been able to afford the old place, as it was in fact three very old houses all jumbled up together!

But the hedge was unhurt...:0)

[Growster...]

You make some very good points here, Ann, and we do roughly the same, which is to make paths of all the hedge trimmings, and just leave theme there! They soon crush down, and they also keep the weeds down!

In fact, we're also going to grow some soft fruit out there, as we've also gained a couple of ft all round the perimeter! We get loads of Alpine straws from there anyway, they just cover the place if we're not careful!