Hedges in my garden in Keswick turn out to be like grass anywhere else, they all need a trim at least once a month plus a major cut twice a year to stop the spiky look. Otherwise I loose my views of the fells beyond. Much easier with power cutters than by hand, even so it’s a lot of work to maintain the illusion of the garden merging with the countryside. The shredder’s essential as well: I distribute the chippings around the garden, it breaks down surprisingly quickly in Cumbria’s cloud forest climate to a mulch that drives more growth.
The Long-tailed Tit visitors are new ones for me, lovely little balls of fluff at the moment. Turns out I’ve been growing nettles to head height as well!