Well that’s the conifer hedge cut at last. It’s been a rush job to get it completed before bird nesting season starts. As you can see from the pictures it was very overgrown. It didn’t get cut at all last year due to the general craziness at work and only the sides were cut the previous year as I had employees cut it and didn’t want them working at height.
This was a hedge we never really wanted but became a necessity. When I first moved to Smithy Brook back in 2003 we had a neighbour who, upon discovering I was a landscape gardener, became obsessed with the idea I was planning on building a garden centre on my land. Every time I put up a new shed, greenhouse, poly tunnel or chicken hut I would get a visit from our local planning officer following an anonymous complaint. Both myself and the planning officer got quite fed up with this as I was never found to be doing anything wrong. One of the funniest of these events followed us running electricity out to one of my new sheds. My neighbour demanded of my employee who was carrying out the work to know exactly why we were doing this. “I think he’s putting a freezer in the shed” he was told. “Well why would he need a freezer in the shed” my neighbour demanded. With the dry sense of humour common among tradesmen who’ve seen hundreds of neighbour disputes on jobs they’ve been on and really couldn’t care less he replied “Dunno mate, might be opening an ice cream factory”. Quite predictably within the week a letter from the planning office arrived. They had received a report I had opened a commercial ice cream production facility in my shed. A visit to investigate was booked. The local planning officer walked into my shed rolling his eyes at having to be here again, peering into my solitary chest freezer half full of our home grown veg he said ” You know you really need a high hedge so you have a bit of privacy here”. Not impressed my reply was “Yeah and then you’ll be getting complaints my boundary hedge is too high won’t you”. Looking me straight in the eye he replied with a wink “Then don’t put it on the boundary”
Well the complaining neighbour is long gone but the not boundary hedge remains. The half dozen homes that make up Smithy Brook all get along nicely now and it’s well over ten years since I last saw the local planning officer. The hedge I didn’t really want has grown on me (pun intended). It now attracts well over a dozen bird nests most years with everything from a tiny wren to a pigeon making their home in it. Working in the field did used to feel rather like being in a goldfish bowl as several neighbours houses overlooked it. The privacy we now have does make it more comfortable. I’m sure my neighbours appreciate it too, especially the last couple of years whilst it’s been quite untidy down there.
The job is completed for another year. Onwards and upwards we go.
