I am seeing many different associations with the word "hedge". These could be the traditional UK land enclosure, natural (bird planted), garden enclosures, privacy hedge often against a fence(photinia) , mono-clipped hedge like privet dividing hone from sidewalk or neighbor, shaped borders (topiary-like), stately taller hedges using trees (ex.beech), lower growing hedges of roses or lavender, ect. mixed flowering shrubs often to encourage birds or four seasons of interest, unclipped or clipped tapestry hedges of evergreens. I'm sure there are more--perhaps the fedge, windbreak plantings, lane... I am the "old house" in the midst of new. My hedge is the flowering unclipped type that serves to demarcate the property line in the back. It is over 50 years old and contains groupings of forsythia, winter honeysuckle, lilac, spirea, mature spindle, rhododendron and Japanese maple. As was mentioned, the age of a hedge can be determined by the other species living there. I have noted bird planted undesirables have taken hold in hard to reach areas-some invasive species too. My maintenance of grubbing these out has been sporadic; it's a lot of work. BUT, my yard is full of bird song in the backyard, narrow as it is, and these are the nice garden birds. I have the option of making a traditional hedge on my country property which is appealing since the old grazing pastures were taken over by young maple saplings in the past 20 years and some introduced diversity along the property line would be welcome, I think. I wonder, Flora, if the work of gardening is considered less onerous by the Brits than here, generally speaking, such that the tending and daily concerns of looking after hedge and garden is expected as part of the culture. After all, the very archetype of the "garden tour" is a group of British matrons in dresses and hats!

Thanks so much to Kathy and Tiffany; this was a fantastic swap. I picked up some wonderful things: great blue lobelia, rose campion, a Jacob's ladder, meadowsweet, dwarf iris, willow shrub and fuschia cuttings, and 3 (count 'em!) 3 bags of Stella D'Oro! Oh, and two bags of Jack-in-the-pulpit seed stalks; I'm busy researching those now, to figure out the best place and way to plant them. I got a chance to spread the gospel of scented gernaiums and found good homes for tansy, mugwort, heuchera, sedum, a bunch of bearded iris, and most importantly my little leaf lilac. Poor guy's been doing his best for two years back behind the tomatoes and peppers every summer -- it's nice to know he'll get a chance to be a star in someone else's yard! But most importantly, I got a chance to hang out with some really nice folks who are just as geeked about plants as I am -- which is a great time in and of itself! Maybe next time I'll actually get there on time..... Nah, probably not. But I'm looking forward to it! (BTW, did anybody happen to find an unclaimed crockpot during clean-up? I didn't realize I'd left it until I was doing the dishes late last night -- seemed a bit too late to drive back by that time. If somebody found it let me know and I'll come pick up my orphan.)\ Thanks again, everybody!

We started our build with Diyanni March 2021, framing good went well, drywall installation went well too We started seeing problems with our skill trades/sub contractors. Our color selection was wrong (inverted), when I attempted to ask them the response was, well you looked at the color sheet and there is nothing we can do about it. The estimated time to move in was so far off (we were told the house would be completed somewhere between the 2nd week to the end of September) so with that estimate, we sold our home and then paid the increase in price after signing the original contract agreement (YES, the price increase 15K after we begun construction), and we opted to stay in a rental for the month. The month turned into 2.5 months and we didn’t get the keys to the house until october 31. And even then we recieved a temporary permit. It was a complete and utter mess. The plumbers didn’t hook up our suppump and our basement took in water and the electrician( nice guy) has been the hardest to get a hold of to complete the extra’s we paid him for. So while new construction will have it’s share of problems, when you are dealing with sub contractors that you don’t get a chance to vett, there is little accountablity without your PM or the people who hired them keeping watch that the product is done correctly. So a word of caution for ANY builder who doesn’t do everything themselves with employees. I will add that we also had Jeff H on our project and while he was very busy, and he dropped the ball sometimes, he did try his best to recetify things. Was he the best ever, no…but he did try to have empathy and just flat out told us some of our issues were due to COVID, material shortage and just finding people who will work. I would hire Jeff again, but I would make sure to stay in constant communication as he doesn’t like buildertrend, which I use to document every issues in case of legal ramifications.

Maybe I have been extraordinary lucky, but so far the people that have come to my house have been the nicest you would ever meet. I hope my luck continues. I had to deal with the flakes only on the phone. katclaws_mo - I haven't heard of a "Curb Alert". I have seen people list Free Items at such and such address on CL. The problem with that is people taking everything that was outside, like patio table & chairs and plants - anything not nailed down. Afterwards people post asking for those items back. I always wonder if they ever get them back. I wouldn't post my address on CL for everyone to see. I feel uncomfortable enough giving it out to strangers in emails and on the phone. No answered my question, 'Why not donate to a charity free items instead of having people come to your house and take them away?' Clare