Annual record

I might have mentioned before that I record the garden from the same (roughly eight compass points) place each year in July just to remind me how things once looked and when.  They make for interesting viewing.  I am just picking the South facing part of the garden to show you the development of the box hedge round the patio.  When I am frustrated with its slow growth I remind myself how well it has actually done.  This summer was the first year that a good section of it on the left has made it to the right height for cutting properly into shape.

In 2007 when the patio went in we had an ugly sloping front concrete edge - a few inches on the left, increasing up to more than a foot on the right.  I decided that if I grew a box hedge in front of it it might look a bit odd from the lawn side as it would be a sloping hedge (!) but it would hide the concrete and the hedge would like nice from the patio and the house as it would soften the edges of the paved area.  This is the 2007July record photo which shows the spindly little plants I put in.

Here it is in 2012, ready for its first proper hair cut.  I have trimmed it a little each year just to keep the growth compact and low to the ground.

I might have missed Derby Day (the date you should trim box) by a mile but that's OK when you live where we do.