

One of the problems brought on us by Covid has been the avoidance of contact with other people. So our cleaning lady departed and we have not seen her for 17 Months (in fact she may well have moved away from the area) and nor have we had any gardening help. Over the last few days I have been consuming paracetamol and tackling the hedge between us and our neighbour (who was also our gardening help) as it has now had two seasons on unchecked growth. One is not supposed to do this until August to avoid disturbing nesting birds, but I knew that I would be so slow that I could not wait till August arrived and so began a week or so earlier. I have got one quite well, and my available work time before I have to rest is now about 1½ hours.
There is so much growth to put away that the shredder is in constant use, I have had to clear out a compost bin to take it all, and a lot of it I have put straight on to the garden as mulch. Hopefully by next spring this will have begun to rot and become incorporated into the soil. Meanwhile it helps to suppress weeds and keep the soil moist.