The hole is dug
At last I have finished digging! As I patiently poked away at the bricks and concrete under the cherry tree’s roots, I wondered whether the rubble really was mostly under the roots or whether I was noticing the rubble under the roots more because it was harder to remove than the rubble in between roots. I came to the conclusion that actually it would make sense for the tree to put its roots just above the rubble, because the soil is probably poorly drained there, and therefore the tree can get more water. So I don’t blame the tree at all, but it was jolly hard work. Yesterday morning I was chipping away with a hammer and chisel to break up a large lump into small enough pieces to be able to remove it, when one of my neighbours came by and said that what I needed was a huge great pole. He went away and came back with one, and thumped the rubble with it for me. I didn’t want to break up the rubble into dust in case it contaminated the soil, but the vibrations dislodged the lump enough for me to lever it out with my crowbar. The crowbar is also good as a chisel, being longer than my proper chisel.
This is the rubble that I dug out of the front garden – and this is not even all of it.
I have now started filling the hole back in again, adding some 6X fertiliser that has been sitting in my garage for nearly eleven years after it came free with something I ordered.
