Trimming the Enemy - I Mean Shrubs

Hi all!

I said yesterday that I should get out there and trim shrubs - well, I actually did it. Of course I am not nearly done with the whole adventure! It seems like as soon as I trim a shrub it grows back again with a vengeance. I guess that is why I consider the shrubs my enemies.

My mother has a real talent for gardening. She can trim a shrub so it looks great. Her trimmed shrubs look like they grew shorter naturally. She has showed me her secrets to trimming but I don't quite have the hang of them yet. Also, I don't think she is dealing with the kind of shrubs I have. She trims her shrubs once, maybe twice a year. I have to face the dumb things once or twice a month in the spring, summer, and fall - they grow that fast! If I don't continuously trim, the shrubs would succeed in their attempt to take over the entire front of the house! They would completely cover up the facade of our house and no one would even know there was a house under all the shrubs! They are that vicious. On my morning walks I see their friends trying to take over different houses in the neighborhood and they are almost winning the fight at some houses!

I must admit that I use small caliber weapons in my battle with the shrubs. I don't haul out the power trimmers that most people use around here. No, I use hand held trimmers. I think - and my husband agrees - that the look is better than using power shears to just trim the darn things into cubes or circles. True it takes me about twenty million times longer to trim by hand than it takes those with the power tools but . . . I enjoy it?????

I do enjoy working in the yard but I must admit that at times I look at the neighbors with the power tools and feel a touch of jealousy. Is it wrong to covet your neighbor's power tools?

Trisha