The green and rolling countryside of Worcestershire, England, is home to the cider apple orchards which surround the gardens of Pear Tree Cottage. They enjoy a sunny south westerly aspect with sweeping views across to Martley Hillside, Woodbury and Abberley clock tower. The Teme Valley lies just over the hill and, not far away, is the Herefordshire border. Although our climate is temperate, our seasons are often uncertain and always a challenge to a gardener! This began in 2010 & follows the weekly ups and downs of garden work chronicling both successes and failures but, above all, demonstrates the fun enjoyed by three people who regularly garden in all weathers

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23 June 2013

HAIRCUTS ALL ROUND!

Shaggy sofa before
The jobs I end up doing!  Honestly!  Did you know that Chris's hedge cutter has 84 little cutting teeth each with 2 edges??  Why am I telling you this?  Well, when he arrived we found it was SO blunt it left white whiskers on the Jasmine.  Guess who ended up holding it patiently whilst he sharpened all 168 edges? (yawn!)  

Anyway after that, there was just no stopping!  The yew hedge had a haircut, the lane hedge was re-styled; even the Yew Sofa had a very precise haircut.  We very carefully lifted the canopy of the Acer Seiryu and now it's looking super smart! 

Now that the robins have fledged, even the balls had a trim.  They had been nesting in the smallest Cotoneaster ball.  Yes, I know that trimming Chris's balls has all sorts of connotations but calling them 'spheres' sounds rather too grand!  It was, after all, his idea to create their shapes!  Anyway, moving quickly on - whilst he was trimming them, he found a nest of bumble bees exactly where he needed to stand!  Typical!  In order to avoid standing on angry bees meant operations had to move to the other side - exactly where where a very droopy white rose covered in vicious thorns had draped itself elegantly in front of ball number three.  Even in a combat jacket with the hood up,  Chris got very hung up in it.

The artiste at work!
Note the warm clothing on an English summer Saturday in June!  We dodged the really heavy showers but Barbour's were on and off all afternoon.  

All this activity meant a HUGE amount of clearing up and, after leaving a very full compost heap, we eventually called it a day at 7:30pm.........Zzzzzzzzzz! 


The apprentice with a very smart sofa!

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