It seems the Aborists are busy post lockdown! I managed to get a few companies to come round and the good news is, the tree won’t fall down unless we have really high winds. The quotes you can get vary from high to low, seriously, and some of the tree experts think it will be easypeasy. As we will keep the wood for the woodburner and the chipped branches for mulch, there is no taking anything offsite.

I’ve also visited the nearest neighbour to say it’s coming down and we had a few crossed wires when she thought we might be asking her to do something, but no I ended up being offered access through their garden should we need it. I think we may get a visit from her partner to clarify, but I just wanted them to be aware there was a problem with the tree and it being attached currently to the fence between us. I didn’t go into the problems with the fence as that is a whole other can of worms, but if it’s needed we can get access by their narrow side access. Gardens are complicated!

Dealings with companies on Facebook or via their websites can also add to the confusion of which forum I’ve used and how to check what time to expect a visit. I think I now will have quite a range of costs and services to consider. One guy said he couldn’t believe how high the quotes can be in Letchworth and proceeded to give me the highest quote so far. Fingers crossed the figures continue to go down, as it affects the shed building.

Meantime I have also slowly been using the soil dug up for the slabs to build a little earth path which will be edged by brick and topped with gravel using the plastic gravel holders to keep it in place. I might play about with the pretty gravel I have a few bags of and see if we can afford some contrasting bags to finish it off. I have lots of ideas in my head!