High Bank

Joy! I finished weeding the high bank yesterday. I was foolish to think it was only another days work. In order to finish off pruning/culling the honeysuckle I decided the easiest way to reach it was to go round the back. As I ascended I was met with yet another thicket of brambles and nettles - Sleeping Beauty had nothing on my garden...

I decided to tackle the problem from basics, and continued climbing up to Margaret's barn at the back. Session one I removed all the brambles from along the back and between the conifers. Session two I started clearing those in front of the conifers and discovered two berberises, a forsythia and a rhododendron. We then had two days of steady rain...

Yesterday afternoon, with some trepidation, I set off back up the bank armed with my loppers, secateurs, gloves and rubbish bag. It was like climbing a mud bank, but with various shrubs to hang on to for purchase I got there. Yet another buddleia to attack, and the rhododendron can now see the light of day. I then had to gingerly start working my way down towards the honeysuckle, pulling out nettles and as much of the root system as I could from the mud, without sliding a***-about-t** down to the bottom. It then started to rain again...

Had a break to walk the dogs, and the rain stopped. I went straight back out on return - it would have been far too easy just to call it a day but I was so close. I had left the loppers up there, so it was slightly easier to get back up. I managed to work my way to the telegraph pole and this gave me a good footing.


Also from here I could actually throw the weeds and prunings onto the lawn, rather than have to try to pack them into the rubbish sack. Attempts to throw stuff from higher up had generally resulted in me having to do a scavenger hunt to retrieve all of the bundles that ended up lodged in various shrubs half-way down.

The honeysuckle after the war...