Killed by BT

The last few days have been a bit of a challenge and I do like a good challenge don't you?

For the last few days we have been two people down in our sales team. This might not sound much but when there are only five of us in the first place that is 40% of our team. It has been hard work but I have enjoyed it. We have been busy but the atmosphere has been good.

Each time I walk towards my house at the end of the day I find myself looking at the cherry tree in my front garden. It was a fully grown tree that had already been cut back before we moved here 12 years ago. Two years ago before I returned to work my mum paid a passing tree surgeon to cut back my tree and the hedge behind it. I was a little worried that my tree would suffer but although not as good as previous years we did have blossom. Then in December 2007 we had problems with our telephone line. BT announced that the problem was the roots of the hedge attacking the underground cable. They dug a trench across my garden so they could bury a new cable within a plastic pipe. Eventually our telephone line was restored.

Last year I noticed that we only had a few leaves on our tree, I was hoping that it was just a temporary set back and this year would be better. Now at the end of March I have noticed that whilst everything else has new shoots, buds and young leaves, my tree has nothing. It is obvious that my tree has not survived the trauma of being attacked by BT. They must have cut through the roots. Now I need to decide what to do about my naked dying tree.

I have also decided that this year I am going to clear my back garden of not just the rubbish that is slowly dwindling but also the brambles and nettles. Once the ground is clear I want to dig up all the grass and lay paving slabs. I have not come by this decision lightly. True it will remove the need to mow the lawn which I find difficult to persuade my boys to do although I feel it shouldn't be a problem for them. But my main reason is that with my house being a mid terrace we are shaded on both sides so that the ground does not get much sun. This means that we need at least a week of dry weather before we can cut the grass. If I don't have the time before it rains we have to wait until the next time we have at least a week of good weather. Last summer I only managed to cut the grass two times instead of at least once every two weeks. Without the shade of my cherry tree my front lawn should dry out quicker if not next year it will get the same treatment.