Lateral thinking

Today three of us spent a couple of hours transporting cut branches of pine, privet and flowering cherry from the fenceline along the southern boundary to our work area near Hillside Crescent.

We had tried planting there on Tuesday, but made slow progress with the loose rocky ground threatening to slide away underfoot. Digging a hole for a plant meant risking a landslide.

So Jean suggested we terrace the slope in preparation for the next lot of plants. She managed to enlist Gerald, anti-drink driving campaigner and Hillary Trail runner, to apply his professional landscaping skills.

Gerald will lay the branches horizontally across the slope, creating barriers to arrest the downward movement and stabilise the ground. Then we can put in more under-storey plants and, hopefully, they'll gain a foothold.