A knotty problem?

I do love a box hedge before trimming when it’s lush and green, a little scruffy and vibrant:

But it won’t stay like that forever and so I got my shears out. It takes me a day and a half to trim it without any help and by the end of it I feel like I’ll never stand upright ever again. I use an old fashioned pair of garden shears to trim off the bulk of the leaf and then I go round and get a bit perfectionist with a pair of old sheep shears stolen from the farm (shh don’t tell). I’ve done it with my big Stihl petrol trimmer once (still followed by the sheep shears for neatening) and the browning was worse than usual. I’ve even tried one of those silly little battery powered mini-trimmers but that was worse than the Stihl as it had a tendency to worry the leaf like an aged sheepdog, rather than cut it neatly. I should have known the old fashioned way would be best really but I was lured in by the promise of speedy results.  Never again (ha!).

Fortunately I also like the way it looks when neatly trimmed:

P.S We are still having a drought. If anyone knows a good rain dance could they please pass it on – mine doesn’t appear to be working.