Thursday 17 September 2020
Today was a bit of a stressful one, as we may have a COVID case at work. With no testing available in London, it’s a waiting game – my least favourite. I worked on hedgecutting, which I have done a couple of times before. However, this time I used a long-arm hedgecutter, which was new. This also involved getting into the the harness contraption that helps take on some of the weight of the machine. All in all, it was a good day of learning, albeit quite tiring.
The long-arm hedgecutter helps you cut taller plants, such as the Trachelospermum jasmioides we worked on that was climbing a tall structure. You can adjust the angle of the arm to help to reach tight spaces and avoid bending too much. I found it a lot more fiddly to work with that the usual hedgecutters I’ve used in the past. This was largely due to being smacked repeatedly in the face by a dangling carabina I couldn’t reach.
We were also working on trimming some of the Euonymus japonicus low hedge we had planted in winter. I found this one a lot trickier to cut, as it was only about 30cm tall. I eventually switched from using the long-arm hedgecutter to the normal one, which made it a lot easier to level out.
Finally, I was given the chance to trim an Ilex topiary ball. As I was using a hedgecutter, it was not as precise as I would have liked but I managed to make a general sphere shape. It didn’t help that the holly was in very poor condition, with quite a lot of defoliation due to underwatering. This produced a less compact hedge, which didn’t provide any bounce when cutting it.
All in all, I enjoyed using a new machine, however, I think I definitely need more practice using both the harness and the long-arm hedgecutter.
Lili Barras-Hargan 