The sun is shining, the bitter wind has dropped, I have a free afternoon and I’m about to attack the brambles which are running through our hedge. The hedge itself has gone rampant and is also tangled with ivy. It makes an effective barrier against intruders, something prickly is much better than most security devices at keeping unwelcome visitors out, but I don’t want it to overwhelm the new climbing roses we’ve planted, or the pretty berberis (also spiky but very small) or the new Japonica.
We are lucky to have a very good recycling system in Somerset, so all the stuff we can’t compost ourselves, turn into mulch or shred can be piled into green bags and will be collected by the dustbin men every two weeks… I know they don’t collect dustbins any more in fact there probably aren’t any dustbins, only wheelie bins and coloured boxes… but I don’t know the current name for the bin men. Garbage disposal operatives, maybe, heroes whatever they are called, always so cheery however beastly the weather!
So – to the garden, to the hedge, to work!
Lois Elsden 