Hi folks. I have an end-terrace house with garden on three sides, which was
planted with shrubs and old rose borders by the builders a few years ago, no
lawns.

Particularly in the end garden at the side of the house, the bushes and
shrubs have really got out of hand and I am getting less and less successful
at keeping it all down with a hedge trimmer etc. Plus the fact that getting
rid of the rubbish is a problem - the fortnightly green wheely bin isn't
enough. I would almost prefer lawns!!

I think it's got to the point when I need to get in a "proper" gardener
fairly soon to seriously hack it all back somewhat ruthlessly - and he'll
have a van etc. to take away all the offcuts. Not only would it tidy things
up, but I'm sure it would do most of the shrubs good and enable me to get in
there and feed them properly etc.

When is the best time to do this? At the moment it's all growing like mad
with all the rain, but presumably Oct or Nov it would all be dying back.

Would it be bad to do this now? It's so untidy now and I really can't cope
with it!

Thanks.

Barb (UK)

On Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:32:19 +0100, "Barb"
wrote:

Hi folks. I have an end-terrace house with garden on three sides, which was
planted with shrubs and old rose borders by the builders a few years ago, no
lawns.

Particularly in the end garden at the side of the house, the bushes and
shrubs have really got out of hand and I am getting less and less successful
at keeping it all down with a hedge trimmer etc. Plus the fact that getting
rid of the rubbish is a problem - the fortnightly green wheely bin isn't
enough. I would almost prefer lawns!!

I think it's got to the point when I need to get in a "proper" gardener
fairly soon to seriously hack it all back somewhat ruthlessly - and he'll
have a van etc. to take away all the offcuts. Not only would it tidy things
up, but I'm sure it would do most of the shrubs good and enable me to get in
there and feed them properly etc.

When is the best time to do this? At the moment it's all growing like mad
with all the rain, but presumably Oct or Nov it would all be dying back.

Would it be bad to do this now? It's so untidy now and I really can't cope
with it!

Thanks.

Barb (UK)


Get someone in for a quote now. You need to know what the shrubs are,
as different shrubs need different pruning. For instance if one is a
flowering shrub you should prune after flowering or you will not get
any flowers. You need advice.
Do you have a local gardening club? They might recommend someone or
even better someone might come and advise you for nothing.
You need a plantsman, not just a man with a van!

Pam in Bristol

In article ,
lid says...
Hi folks. I have an end-terrace house with garden on three sides, which was
planted with shrubs and old rose borders by the builders a few years ago, no
lawns.

Particularly in the end garden at the side of the house, the bushes and
shrubs have really got out of hand and I am getting less and less successful
at keeping it all down with a hedge trimmer etc. Plus the fact that getting
rid of the rubbish is a problem - the fortnightly green wheely bin isn't
enough. I would almost prefer lawns!!

I think it's got to the point when I need to get in a "proper" gardener
fairly soon to seriously hack it all back somewhat ruthlessly - and he'll
have a van etc. to take away all the offcuts. Not only would it tidy things
up, but I'm sure it would do most of the shrubs good and enable me to get in
there and feed them properly etc.

When is the best time to do this? At the moment it's all growing like mad
with all the rain, but presumably Oct or Nov it would all be dying back.

Would it be bad to do this now? It's so untidy now and I really can't cope
with it!

Thanks.

Barb (UK)



Make the shrubs smaller by removing a third of the stems completely each
year, remove the oldest stems and do it after each shrub flowers, after
the first 3 year cycle the shrubs will be much more managable. all the
prunings can be shredded and put straight back on the ground around the
shrubs.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Make the shrubs smaller by removing a third of the stems completely each
year, remove the oldest stems and do it after each shrub flowers, after
the first 3 year cycle the shrubs will be much more managable. all the
prunings can be shredded and put straight back on the ground around the
shrubs.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea


Thanks Charlie .... I've been pretty much doing that for a few years now,
but it's all been getting slowly bigger.

After illness and having been away for while this summer it's got away from
me, and completely beyond my height, my hedge trimmer and my wheely bin, and
I need some help.

I've got a couple of numbers from yellow pages and I think I'll get quotes.

Barb wrote:
Make the shrubs smaller by removing a third of the stems completely each
year, remove the oldest stems and do it after each shrub flowers, after
the first 3 year cycle the shrubs will be much more managable. all the
prunings can be shredded and put straight back on the ground around the
shrubs.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea


Thanks Charlie .... I've been pretty much doing that for a few years now,
but it's all been getting slowly bigger.

After illness and having been away for while this summer it's got away from
me, and completely beyond my height, my hedge trimmer and my wheely bin, and
I need some help.

The "hedge trimmer" sounds worrying. You need loppers to thin out from
the inside - and a shredder.

--
CTC Right to Ride Rep. for Richmond upon Thames

"Paul Luton" wrote in message
...
Barb wrote:
Make the shrubs smaller by removing a third of the stems completely each
year, remove the oldest stems and do it after each shrub flowers, after
the first 3 year cycle the shrubs will be much more managable. all the
prunings can be shredded and put straight back on the ground around the
shrubs.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea



The "hedge trimmer" sounds worrying. You need loppers to thin out from the
inside - and a shredder.

--


Exactly, Paul, just can't deal with it! I don't run to this kind of
equipment, which is why it's run away & got out of hand .... For the area
concerned, relatively small house garden, it's not worth the investment.

Personally, I wouldn't have planted such potentially big shrubs next to a
house, but it was the showhouse, and I suppose they wanted it to look
"mature" and tidy. Eight years on it's a bit disastrous!

The other problem is that I have ivy behind it, which grows up the wall
(towards the satellite dish!) and also up onto the roof of the separate
garage. I can't get to this any more to keep it under control, with the
bushes in the way, and I need to deal with it before it causes damage.

I have planned and shrubbed gardens on three sides of the house, and I'm
seriously wishing for a conventional lawn-flower bed arrangement now. It's
very attractive, but it's like the Forth Bridge! Thankfully, I'm moving
house in the foreseeable future, and the new buyers can deal with it ....