Wellingtonia

This large Wellingtonia sits in one corner of our garden - and deprives it of quite a lot of sun. Also at the seasonal time drops quite a lot of cones and tiny twiglets which are a nuisance. Two months or so ago it dropped a branch which fortunately just missed a neighbour's fence. Not a huge branch but big enough that it needed a taste of the chain saw before it could be moved. This happened another couple of times with one branch landing by Alison's cold frames. I was also worried as it has a slight lean towards a neighbouring bungalow. So we decided that we needed to do something and called the tree man at Highland Council (the tree is under a tree preservation order). He came to look and was very good, helpful and reassuring. Dismissed the lean as being not important and the branches were just part of a normal process (not rotten) and we have had long periods of strong winds over recent months. He's sent us the council list of approved tree surgeons and thinks there's quite a bit of "tidying up" that could be done. I was also much heartened that even felling the thing would cost much less than I had imagined - not that the council would allow it unless it proved a real danger. So all cheers for one Highland Council department (and the people who look after the cemeteries are good too - lots of small, out-in-the-wilds, burial grounds kept in excellent order)