Wednesday 14 November 2007

Short back and sides

This is sight well known to locals at Overbury or anybody passing through the village at this time of year. It is Gordon, hedgcutting expert, pruning and very skillfully shaping and molding the hedges on the farm. Gordon has looked after, trimmed and shaped the hedges that every-one drives past for over 20 years. Some people notice and comment, which is great, others just get irate about the hold up as they scurry off to work, late because there was a slight frost on the windscreen that held them up. Hedge cutting is a very important job. Along the sides of roads and footpaths it removes obstructions and increases visibility for the general public. As hedges grow they need to be trimmed down to encourage growth lower down to give shelter to small mammals and birds. A nice A shaped hedge trimmed lightly every year will bear fruit that birds can eat during the winter. Leaving hedges uncut can result in a little more winter food but the hedge will soon revert to a bush, grow tall, and have a premature death. Look out for Gordon on your travels around the farm and admire the skills involved and learnt over a long period of time.

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