I’m not sure how I feel about people who plant trees on allotment plots, they are such a long term investment that change the look and behaviour of the landscape – way beyond the time that person has the plot. For future plot holders it shapes how they will use the plot and sometimes you might not want it or it causes problems due to its size. Looking at other plots on the site, a lot seem to have cherry trees of various stages of their long life, from small to massive big trees overshadowing the world.

Seeing as we have our own cherry tree in the garden which supplies us with way too many cherries each year, I didn’t feel guilty about removing the tree at the plot. The tree on the plot is in the corner, sucking the moisture away from the rhubarb that is next to it. It looks pretty for ten minutes each year while the blossom is out, and then the wind blows it all off. The birds then eat all the cherries (and there are not that many), we have never picked anything from it. Before it got too large, today we chopped it down.

It didn’t take long, it’s quite small (we didn’t need an axe while singing lumberjack songs). If we had left it for a couple more years then it would be massive I’m sure. It has opened up the corner of the plot and hopefully plants around it will be happier. Later on in the year we may have a go at digging out the stump a bit more we the aim of returning back to growing space.

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