English hedgerow

A hedgerow is defined as closely spaced shrubs and tree species, planted and trained in such a way as to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area. The root word 'hedge' is much older: it appears in the Old English language, in German (Hecke), and Dutch (haag) to mean 'enclosure', as in the name of the Dutch city The Hague, or more formally 's Gravenhage, meaning The Count's hedge.

We have a hedgerow growing along the side of our house extending all along the one side of our back yard. We inherited this hedge when we moved into our house 14 years ago. It stands 6 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. It makes the perfect privacy fence and a great buffer, reducing traffic noise from the street. Only problem is, it needs to be trimmed several times throughout the summer.

I like to trim the hedgerow by hand using only my hand trimmers (not electric), and a ladder. It takes the good part of a day, but I find that if I get started early in the morning it's really not that bad and it becomes very therapeutic for me.

The straight line across the top is fairly easy to achieve just by standing back every now and then and eyeballing it.

Our patio is enclosed and very private with the tall hedge on one side and holly bushes and a picket fence on the other side.

When Otis and Riley were puppies I put up a green wire fence all along the hedgerow to keep them from getting out, and now the hedge covers the wire and makes it unnoticeable.




Even though hedges are a lot of maintenance, there is an aesthetic beauty to them.

~Perfect for a cottage garden.

Garden therapy

Although I dread the thought, and deeply sigh whenever it's time to prune the hedge, I must admit, it's good therapy.

Today, I decide, is a good day to tackle the job. I get my trusty garden tools out; trimmers, pruners, gloves, ladder, rake, compost bin and broom.

Taking a long deep breath and another sip of hot coffee, I position my aluminum ladder and start in. I feel a gentle, cool breeze. It's heavenly and helps immensely. Before I know it, I'm moving along with the greatest of ease. I feel like Edward Scissorhand!

clip, clip, clip

Here we have a cut through, or an underpass in the hedge as you walk through the gate and into the garden. Our neighbors call our back yard "The Secret Garden".

I round the holly bushes at the end of the driveway.

Another rounded holly bush at the entrance to the garden.

Look at all the berries, even after all the pruning.

So here's a bit of color after looking at all the green. Don't want you to get bored.

The birds were obviously hungry.

It's now late afternoon. A bit of clean-up yet.

Done.
And now I enjoy a cup of coffee on the back patio. I look around at all I accomplished today. What a great feeling!

Truly garden therapy.

The hedge

It's great having a tall hedge around the back of our house, not only does it provide privacy, but it gives the garden a feeling of seclusion; a retreat; a sanctuary ~ like a secret garden. However, a hedge must be maintained and today it needed clipping. I got the ladder, the trimmers and the lopper and got started. Sometimes it's just the "starting" that's the hard part, and once you get started, it's not so bad.

A few coffee breaks with Otis and Riley and some more clipping and taa daa! We're done.