Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

I am sure that everyone has a nemesis of one kind or another.

Something that has never been easy, but seems to get harder every time you try to do it?

Mine is the massive hedge in our back garden.

Seven feet tall and nearly three feet wide, it runs the length of the garden, some 100 feet. What makes it hard to cut are all the different species of hedging plants it contains. I counted at least eight of them, and all with widely varying habits. Some grow faster than the others do, and some develop thick branches that my shears cannot cope with.

I used to stand on a stepladder to reach the top, but over the years, this has become hazardous to put it mildly. The last time I lost my balance, I ended up embedded in the hedge in my attempt to avoid hitting the ground!

I invested in one of those decorator platforms and this was a lot safer and far more stable. All I have to do is not keep walking of the end and so far, I haven’t. It isn’t very high, so I still struggle to reach the top of the hedge.

Last year I actually reduced the height of this monstrosity by several inches. It was hard work and took several days, but for a while it made cutting it so much easier. It needs lowering again, unfortunately, something I am not looking forward

It must be nice to have a decent hedge, consisting of one manageable slow growing  specie. A hedge you could shape into something interesting, instead of an overgrown brute that fights back hard every step of the way.

One of these days, I will be too old to cut it, and have to pay someone to do it for me for there is no one in the family that could help me out, as they are all much shorter than I am.

Just down the road from me is the perfect hedge. A truly beautiful work of art. It is cut into the shape of a dragon and has been for years. It must take a labour of love to keep it that way…