Here is an update:
What should be obvious from comparing the two pix is that we have cut down the plum tree, and I have started the terracing, using red gum sleepers and red gum posts cut and salvaged from old fence posts. Also obvioius, but on the negative side, the grass has re-grown and the agapanthus has fought back in the spots where we didn't dig out the roots.
But, also gone is all the ivy from the fence (there is still a bit next to the tree), most of the blackberry (roots and all) and a lot of cherry laurel (which has been cut back well over the fence line). We also have shifted some soil (spoil actually) from the trench around the garage, ready to spread out over the terrace once the sleepers go up.
Not so obvious is that the tree limb which occupied all the space between the plum and the fence has now been completely removed (we are burning the last of it now, the bit marked in the top photo), including the splinters that were still attached to the tree (a narrow-leaf peppermint gum), and the dead wood, termite larvae and termite poop have been dug out too.
The biggest step is the start on the retaining wall, but the most obvious when you stand on the drive is the plum tree. It had to go (dying—in fact, mostly dead—and not native) to make room for the native trees and shrubs we want to plant (which I will discuss in another post). But it is amazing how exposed this spot seems now. So we are anxious to get the terrace finished and the plants in so we can rebuild the wall for terrace no.2 and get a six foot brushwood fence in place.
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