One day last summer the big bushy hedge that provided
privacy along the west side of my backyard had reached a height and width that
I could no longer deal with. Even with a ladder and a hedge trimmer with a long
blade, I could not reach far enough across the top of the monster to keep its
growth under control. I’d had enough. That was the day I began cutting down my
hedge.
It took me four days. When I was through I had lowered the
height of the hedge by at least two feet and I’d snipped off every single branch,
leaving only the major trunks. Not a single green leaf remained. A twisted column of dark, bare stems was all
that was left. It looked pretty awful.
The neighbors wondered out loud if the hedge would grow
back. I didn’t know for sure, but something told me that it would. Before
winter set in, a new little sprig or two and had showed up and that gave me
hope.
Now it is April and just this week, those little sprigs
began to show up again. I’m betting that by midsummer, my hedge will be back.
It’s going to be interesting to see just how it returns and whether or not it
will fill in and prosper and serve to screen my backyard from the activity in
the street beyond it.
The moral of this story?
If your hedge is bugging you, attack it. Then, have faith, sit back and
see what happens.
