The beautiful mature tree at the end of Ms S’s path has grown so vigorously in recent warm wet weather that she was worried about its lower branches blocking her gate. After a careful pruning session using secateurs and long-handled loppers, the entrance to her front garden is now looking clearer and lighter. Before leaving, I chopped the branches into short pieces to make a mini log pile beside the fence and heaped the leafy twigs tidily under a shrub where they will quickly rot down.