Other things that have to go

The hedge in its present form has to go. No, not entirely — just parts of it. It's over 100 meters (or yards) long, and it's seven or eight feet high. Maintenance is too difficult, or too expensive.

If you've read Walt's blog or mine for the past few years, you know what the annual hedge trimming requires. It takes weeks, and it's back-breaking work. For nearly 10 years now, we've been trying to keep it looking as it did when we moved in. Enough's enough.

Our house and yard as seen on Google maps — hedge sections
to be pruned back radically are marked with red lines.

So we've asked a gardening contractor to cut down parts of the hedge to a manageable height. In other words, cut it down to about one meter high — that's just over three feet. Or maybe keep it at four feet. But cut it down low enough so that in future years it can be trimmed without anybody needing to climb a ladder.

This section of the hedge and a section that is hidden behind

the tree on the right will be reduced in height by half.

The sections of hedge we are talking about cutting down don't provide any extra privacy — unlike the long sections along the road. We'll just have those privacy hedges along the road pruned only slightly, as usual, this year, trimming off the new growth. Then we'll make a decision about cutting them down more severely next year.

This is the back of our yard, which faces the vineyard.

The pond in the foreground belongs to the village.

In fact, cutting down the part of the hedge shown on the photo above will give us a fine view of the vineyard from our back yard. The cherry tree behind the garden shed, by the way, is old and decrepit, and the few cherries it produces have a odd taste. Adieu, vieux cerisier — tu seras remplacé par un nouveau.

For old times' sake, here's a shot of Walt trimming the hedge
6 years ago. My job was to rake up and haul away the clippings.