Kellyville Chainsaw Massacre

Prunage . . that's what's been going on this Sunday. Severe prunage. Someone should tell Babybro that pruning should be done in autumn while plants are latent to encourage new growth in spring. But no . . out he gets first with a foikn great chain saw and slices the bejeezus out of a flowering Tibuchina tree before arming himself with hedge cutters and dicing and slicing his way through a fully blossomed May bush, Azaleas that are in full bloom, a freshly green sprouting Japanese Maple and a 50 metre Gardenia hedge. There are now no buds on the hedge. It was all I could do to pull the plug on him before he axed the Plumbago that trails along our bedrooms and shelters my little miner family . . . So now, our pretty Spring garden looks like a green marine with a flat top, brutalised by the 'slasher'. Fortunately, because the seasons here are so mild, the buds should grow back by Christmas and we'll have our Gardenia hedge in full fragrant bloom. Either that or he'll have killed the lot! I guess I should thank my lucky stars that he didn't try topiary!