Whole lotta pruning goin' on

While I've been working at clearing out the house, the hubby has been thinning trees and hedges. When I took the July 4 photo yesterday, there were two pics that I might have chosen that showed our naked hedge in the foreground. I decided that they were just too sad-looking to be the first thing you see when the page is opened.
The pruning, like the work inside the house is long overdue. He skipped last year, so they are fairly out of hand. I tend to like the privacy and the shade that the overgrowth provides, but it does look tidy when they are all trimmed up.  A few weeks ago, the apple tree in the back yard was cut down to about half it's size. Last weekend, it was the hedge's turn. There were actually a lot of dead stalks that needed to be pulled out (nothing sinister - they died of old age). 
That's the problem with these long summer days; there's just so much more time to work outdoors. Don't misunderstand and think that I am complaining, I am all for this orderly change. 

So already, this photo is outdated. The tree will take a few days to finish trimming, and the hedge will probably take the remainder of the summer to fill back in.