Pruning

From time to time, I complain about the use of tractor mounted flails to cut back the hedges bordering our roads.

The good news is that there may have been some pulling back of the flails in favour of small chain saws mounted on the end of long poles. The bad news is that while you do not get the mess which is left by a flail, you can't get a proper pruning cut with a chain saw, particularly with one waving about on the end of a pole - with the example snapped here being by no means the worst on the block, that is to say on Horton Lane.

For a proper cut, not leaving an unsightly stump and close enough to the root to allow the wound to heal over, you really need a pruning saw wielded from a ladder, perhaps with the cut finished off neatly with with a pruning knife. Also strong arms as the angle is often awkward. So I don't suppose it is going to happen.