Friday, 14 February 2014

The gentle art of forestry

As we were packing away the Christmas decorations (this was a few weeks ago!) I was instructed to take our increasingly sad looking small tree out and dump it.  Given my deep environmental concerns* I clearly couldn't live with this sort of waste!  I remembered that the trees used in Paul W's garden (see below) bore a striking resemblance to bits of artificial tree and so a cunning plan was born.  Above can be seen one of my new 'trees' temporarily planted in a lump of blu-tac and under close guard.  Interestingly, the rest of the regiment are keeping their distance in case the tree falls down....

The tools of the trade.  The branches were first removed from the tree with the hammer and then cut into tree-sized pieces using the pliers.  A brief but brutal process.
While only a small (2 foot tall) tree, it yielded enough little trees to fill this container.  My tea mug is there for scale.

*I like my environment to be awash with toy soldiers and related ephemera.
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15 comments:

  1. Peter Douglas14 February 2014 at 13:03

    Tim
    Very green of you. The planet thanks you.

    Cheers
    PD

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  2. Conrad Kinch14 February 2014 at 13:59

    I always had you figured for a lumberjack.

    It all makes so much sense now.

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  3. Tim Gow14 February 2014 at 14:26

    Peter Douglas
    The planet is welcome.

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  4. Tim Gow14 February 2014 at 14:26

    Conrad Kinch
    It was the shirt, right? Not the other garments?

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  5. Jon Yuengling14 February 2014 at 15:29

    It is important to recycle. Think of the savings of buying the trees.

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  6. Tim Gow14 February 2014 at 18:16

    Jon Yuengling
    Exactly - one tree has become many.

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  7. Stephen Thomas14 February 2014 at 21:38

    Please Sir, This coming Christmas can I borrow your container of little trees and some glue. I shall only require it for 12 days. :-)

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  8. Archduke Piccolo14 February 2014 at 22:51

    I've done something similar for my Army Men project. The Christmas tree in question had been dumped in from of the local Cat's Protection League. Noticing it on my paper round (since discontinued), I liberated at least part of it. I justified this on the grounds that although the CPL accepted second hand stuff, they weren't into 'junk', and they didn't much like dumping.

    OK, fair cop, Ociffer, I'll come quietly...

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  9. Col14 February 2014 at 23:41

    "*I like my environment to be awash with toy soldiers and related ephemera." I hope this is not another reference to your playing with your soldiers in the shower! Clever use of old Christmas Trees. Just came about a month too late (threw an old one out!)

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  10. Paul Foster15 February 2014 at 20:35

    Good idea Tim. Its good for the lawn as well as it help get air into the soil.

    Now you only have to find some sandbags to stop the lawn becoming a lake!

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  11. Don M17 February 2014 at 06:35

    waste not want not huh...)

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  12. Tim Gow17 February 2014 at 15:23

    Archduke Piccolo
    Sounds like you acted on your initiative to save someone else a job. Well doe sir!

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  13. Tim Gow17 February 2014 at 15:24

    Col
    That's a vicious rumour and was never proven. Now get out of my bathroom and take your camera with you...

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  14. Tim Gow17 February 2014 at 15:26

    Paul Foster
    Quite right - doing my bit to slow global warming.

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  15. Tim Gow17 February 2014 at 15:26

    Don M
    Damn right!

    ReplyDelete