Bramble taming

Ah the mighty mow and strim day.   Perfect weather for the event. Cool and then warm enough to shed layers of long sleeved fleeces all over the garden as I worked.

I have strimmed all the areas where daffs will appear in the springtime; hacked back the baby brambles on the first steep bank above the road, and even strimmed in the duck pond area of the garden where baby chestnut trees were trying to sneak into thick growth.   That was fun.   I don’t feel any sentiment about cutting down self sown chestnut trees; we have thousands.

There are some very long thick brambles on the high steep banks. And I realised that they are coming from the orchard side above.   So it was time to cut down all the part of the orchard I have left as a sort of meadow all year.

To be honest, it only worked up until June.   It did save on mowing but I don’t have many stunning wildflowers there. Just vipers bugloss which I like, but too many verbascums and brambles as well.

So putting the cutting level up to 4, I raced into the huge thicket of weeds.   It took above four passes but I have mown it into submission.   And taken out some mighty brambles along the way.

It’s almost a shame to show the orchard in its most scruffy state.   But it’s that time of the year when you have to tidy things away.   And who knows? If we ever get any rain this winter things will green up rather quickly.

I then ducked down to the roadway and tidied up the other side of the road – it’s a lovely rich closely cut sward now. Terribly satisfying.

And for an encore I mowed the huge lawn on the pool terrace.   Lovely.