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How could I make a very temporary coloured spray to aid accurate pruning?

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  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    60/ 40  lazy/ keen  @bédé . I'm also easily distracted. Rarely finish a job before starting another🙄
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited September 2022
    My neighbour has a large, never-pruned bay clump.  It is female (sex is important, they are dioecious) and the pigeons bring the seeds (like small nutmegs) to my garden where they germinate easily as weeds or the starting point for pot plants or replacements.

    Once a year in August should be enough.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Not with mine, I'm afraid. I keep it as a big fat lollipop so definitely spring and late summer
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    I like your thinking about using a spray to mark the parts you want to cut back, but how would you prevent overspray to the parts you want to keep?  It's not like marking a line if you want to change the size of a border, for example.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Chalk spray will wash off in the rain.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Match pots come with a sponge or a brush.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    B3 said:
    60/ 40  lazy/ keen  @bédé . I'm also easily distracted. Rarely finish a job before starting another🙄
    I'm more 40/60.  I am not easily distracted, but so focussed that I forget the next job on my priorities.  It is my policy not to finish a job before starting the next - I try to give all my body and mind parts an equal work-out.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Have you finished the job yet?  I'm not nagging, just want to check if my fresh idea might still be helpful.

    Why don't you get a long pole.  Ca 7 ft.  (You could use your ladder to judge this.)  Cut off anything above that.  Perhaps 6 ft would be better to allow for regrowth.
    Then cut the sides to taste. 
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    edited September 2022
    Maybe time for a long arm hedge cutter? My lazy/keen ratio is similar to yours and that's what I'd be thinking about.

    Its got nice looking fairly open foliage though which must be a testament to your hand pruning. 

    We have at least 20 ops cutting hedges, topiaries and shrubs at this time of year and i've never heard of anyone chalking/painting anything up. String lines for straight hedges/parterres maybe... 

    Could you not take a picture on your phone and just keep referring to it when you're up the ladder? (safely!)
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited September 2022

    @bédé
    I've pruned what I could by eye.I'm waiting for the  prunings still scattered about the tree  to wither a bit so that I can see to remove them otherwise mistakes will be made if I take account of prunings that aren't attached .

    It looks fairly even in the photos but there's a lump  towards the back at one to two  o'clock ish - and a big yomp out of the back but I can't see that😉
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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