No, I'm not swearing! I finally bought some files to sharpen my tools, and the roughest one is a 'bastard' file.
I used it to sharpen the edges of my hedge trimmers and loppers, and it worked. Just a few passes with the file over the edge made them cut much more cleanly, with less force.
I went to town on my bed of giant Miscanthus grasses, and gave them all haircuts:
Then I spread the resulting straw on the garden paths.
It was a good afternoon's work. The only question is, why did I take so long to buy a file and sharpen my tools ? I've read about the process many times over the years, but never before tried to sharpen my tools. I suspect I thought it would be like sharpening kitchen knives, which I've never been very good at, despite many attempts. But sharpening my shears was different-- even a rough edge made a big difference. It must be because the scissor action doesn't need as precise an edge. It's good to learn something new in my old age.
And as a bonus, I found several praying mantis egg cases in the straw, which I stuck into beds around the yard. Egg cases laid close together don't result in many adults, because they eat each other. Spread out across the yard, perhaps more will live to do good eating bad bugs!
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