Rachel, Sheila, Gillian and Boo the dog gathered at Ockwells Park for a spot of tree guard removal from a small area of trees that were planted some years ago. The trees had outgrown the guards and they needed to be gathered up to remove the plastic from the environment. That won't take us long, I thought! Wrong! The trees are densely planted, with low, prickly branches. The curly tree guards were very brittle, and not many came off in one piece. We found the best strategy was to crawl into the thicket on our hands and knees. I was going to say commando-style, but that may give the wrong impression! It was hard work, also having to carry the guards and bamboo canes through the dense branches to the edge of the thicket so they can be collected up. We probably completed just over half of the task area, and afterwards, we literally looked like we had been dragged through a hedge backwards! We will return to finish the job, but this time with waterproof trousers and some bags to collect the plastic