psmv5: Leylandii action

Not having done anything about our bit of leylandii hedge for a couple of years, I finally moved into gear a few days ago, starting with the hedge trimmer to tackle the face facing the back patio. Plus the face behind the fox gate, facing towards the road. Then yesterday, it was up the ladder to take out the more serious stuff up top, some of the taller shoots having grown to more than an inch in diameter. Far more than the pole pruner could manage, fine tool from Germany though it may be.

I soon realised that what I needed was a pole pruning saw, so off to Chessington Garden Centre to see if the Wolf pole had a saw gadget. Which indeed it did: dear but I did get a fiver off because they had put the wrong price on the rack. I might say that to get to the garden tools, I had to work my way through large sheds full of giftware, fancy goods and furniture, across the yard and into another shed out back which actually had some space for garden tools. I had started to wonder whether they still sold them at all, name notwithstanding.

A curved blade, probably not much more than 1mm thick, but with vicious teeth. One needed to have a care. But the thing did cut, especially when the shoot to be cut was steadied with the even longer hook, previously noticed at reference 1. This seemed to work better than a garden hoe.

All snapped above, together with ladder, barrow, gloves, pruners (one of which is just visible bottom right: lighter and easier for use on a ladder, but nowhere near as powerful) and cricket pads to guard the delicate shins. Plus heritage ladder cross bar, not quite lost in the hedge, made long ago and kept just in case in came in one day.

A major performance, which will continue today and probably over the next couple of days.

PS 1: the hedge in question is snapped from the study towards the end of reference 3. This being about where I want to get it back to. Another year and I should think I would have been reduced to getting a tree person in.