Mission complete!

 Got my juniper cuttings yesterday. Junipers are one of the rarest plants/trees in Northern Ireland. This small batch you see is one of a few thats left in this whole mountain range here. 

How they have survived is a miracle with all the grazing animals.

Apparently the genetics of these junipers are unique to these mountain ranges. For years I looked for these. I have never seen junipers anywhere else in Northern Ireland apart from here and many years ago I was on some mission searching high and low looking everywhere for them.

Its great to see this little batch doing so well and its nice to know that if anything happens to these that I've got the genetics and linage going here, ready to be replanted anytime!

Many years ago I took cuttings from this same batch, grew them up and replanted in another part of the mountain. They were growing so well for a year or so then they put cattle on the mountain and they were destroyed. It baffled me a bit at the time as when they put the cattle on a sign went up saying they were conservation superheroes! Couldn't get my head around that at all. The delusion is just too much at times. 

I'm not sure what they were meant to conserve as all I seen was a wrecked mountain with these beasts trampling all over it. Another sign said walkers please stick to the paths to prevent erosions. Makes you wonder wtf is going on. Horses, sheep and cattle running wild all over it but our wee feet are the problem. 

Keep your dogs on leads due to ground nesting birds another sign says. But the horses, sheep and cattle are trained to step over the nesting birds. You wonder who makes this s**t up at times.

Would be amazing if they had just one small mountain in the country that was left to its natural state. Just one bit!!

Thats all I was aiming for many years ago. I found one part of the mountain that the sheep couldnt get too. 

I built rocks around my parts to protect the trees. Then every so often the gorse gets set on fire as a way of clearing to encourage more grazing land for sheep. I was burned off this part of the mountain and all my trees gone. What was left after that the conservation superheroes destroyed. 

Not one mountain range in the whole of Northern Ireland is natural. Sad!!!

Anyhow I will keep on doing my bit preserving the linage of these precious junipers.

Years ago it was a passion of mine to find all the trees in the Ogham tree alphabet in their natural habitat growing wild. The last one on my list back then was the juniper. I love this immortal species of life. So slow growing and live for thousands of years. 

I challenge you to phantom plant a tree 

Peace and love 

The Phantom Planter