Oh English garden, sweet 'n noisy

How many kinds of sweet flowers grow in and English country garden? So goes the song. And even in the London suburbs the gardens are bursting with the colour of a very wet spring. From both sides of our flat we look out on scintillating greens, reds, yellows and blues. This is the time for growth and bloom. And in all this growth lies the problem. No doubt 20 years ago, trusty gardeners would do the rounds with their clippers and brooms trimming, shaping and tidying up. But these days in the well-heeled suburbs it's the garden service. Suddenly, our morning peace  is shattered by a cacophony of petrol-driven hedge-trimmers. Once a week these guys patrol the suburb, obsessively boxing hedges and cutting back wisterias. Then out comes the petrol-driven blower to gather the clippings and trimmings. And of course each household has a different gardening service on different days. The one we see most often is represented by a doleful chap with long locks and moustaches who looks like he is in serious need of exercise despite his outdoor existence. The 'English Country Garden' song was a hit in the UK and also in South Africa in 1962 when I was a kid. Funnily enough, the singer was an American, Jimmie Rodgers, from Camas, WA. The QSL is from KLB Seattle Marine Radio. Seattle is about 200 km north of Camas. I heard this utility station in Joburg in 1988 on USB using 2kW and a 1.5 wave quad loop antenna beamed in the opposite direction into the north Pacific.