Mission Impossible....

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Ever had one of those ‘projects’ in the garden when part way through it you ask yourself “why did I bother starting this ?”.

At the moment Im trying to dig out an apple tree that has been suffering badly with wooly aphid. The last couple of years I have waged war on them but they were harming the tree and it was looking poorly so I decided it had to come out.

The tree is about 15-18 years old (maybe 9" trunk diameter) but the problem is compounded by the fact that its on quite a steep sloped bank and there are quite a few plants around it that Im trying not to damage as I go.

Today was the first decent day for a while so I gave it a good bash armed with all sorts of tools to assist in the digging and cutting of the roots. The ground is heavy and there are all sorts of building rubble mixed in with the roots making progress very slow indeed. Ive dug all the way round and chopped away at about 65% of the roots but still it wont budge. Usually when you dig & cut roots away it gets a bit loose and you can ‘rock’ it to help the removal process. At about 16:30, with back aching I even had the thought of tying it up with a tow rope and using the car to help shift it – though this wont be happening !!

In the best Mastermind tradition, Ive started so I’ll finish but there were times when I thought I maybe should have left it…… why do I start these things ?

• 24 Feb, 2011
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