24 August 2023 Clipping and mowing

(1.5 hrs) Today I cut the front hedge & grass. My hedge is massive, about 45' long, so it takes a full day and several recharges of the hedge clipper to finish. I checked carefully for nests first, but because the hedge is only hip-high, and there are cats around, the birds prefer to be higher up. The hedge is a nice mixed deciduous one, already planted when we arrived 30 years ago, dense and unruly if not given regular attention. Cotoneaster, quince, berberis, escallonia, vibirnum, potentilla... a bit of everything! I left the scrap of front lawn uncut in the spring, and was delighted to find a number of wildflowers I'd never seen before appearing. Ten different ones, including fox and cubs, flatweed, foxgloves, oxalis, clover, self-heal, birds foot trefoil, as well as the usual daisies and buttercups. Eventually I had to trim it - it was lowering the tone of my suburban street, ha ha. The bees have had my big white hebe to enjoy as well.