"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 ....