Less is more when it comes to visual impact
In June 2021, Karrie and Nick Mellor moved into a beautiful house in Bury, West Sussex, with spectacular views of the South Downs… from the upstairs windows anyway. At ground level, the view was obscured by what can best be described as a thicket of overgrown trees, shrubs and hedges.
“It’s quite an isolated house and the previous owners had liked the seclusion I think, so they had let things grow,” says Karrie. Specimens of hawthorn, sycamore, elderberry and alder had all run wild, not just obscuring the view but cutting out light to the swimming pool and dropping leaves, which needed constant clearing up.
Karrie called Connick and asked us to come and see about clearing it all. “We wanted more of a vision and I thought we needed to get rid of everything,” she says. “I didn’t feel terribly happy about it – I love trees,” she adds, “but it seemed the only way to see what we wanted to see.”
A tree for the future
When we came to survey the job, we were able to offer Karrie a solution that would both open up the view and let more light to the pool without having to destroy the ecosystem. Far from it, in fact. There was one specimen tree, a field maple, which we identified as a tree for the future, certainly not to be cut down.
Before we set about cutting back the hawthorn hedge and taking out the unwanted sycamore, elderberry and alder, the farmer who owned the cows in the neighbouring field came over for a chat. He made the interesting point that if we cut the hedge too low so the cows could see in, they would trample their way into the garden. That’s what cows do, apparently. There followed an impassioned debate between Karrie and Nick as to the height of your average cow!
A win-win solution
The result was a much neater area of foliage, with the retained specimens now in much healthier condition, considerably more light shining onto the pool and a glorious view of the Downs from the garden.
We used eco-friendly electric trimmers and saws, which had the welcome added benefit of being quiet enough not to upset the cows. All the wood was recycled on-site as woodchip mulch, using our tracked wood chipper, with larger branches being cut to suitable lengths for firewood and stacked neatly on-site.
This was a really satisfying job and a shining example of the sort of work we do every day, creating space and light while maintaining and restoring the health of trees and hedges. A win-win.
“I was very impressed with Connick Tree Care’s vision. I’d asked them to cut down all the trees but they advised me that by cutting down certain trees and pruning others, we could achieve the view we wanted and add interest to the garden. What they’ve created is a fantastic focal point to that corner of the garden and we’re delighted with the view.”
Karrie Mellor, Bury, West Sussex
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