Sean Freeman

I would agree with Erics art work, that lowest cut is definately to be avoided at all costs! The cut to make good the tear will always miss the target since the tear itself has gone through the ideal line for the final cut.
I really like the idea of using rope with a known breaking point as dynamic cabling, I have seen it done very successfully in the Gold Coast, fall arrest systems in effect.
Don't forget the root system the ground looks quite compacted and devoid of organic matter, try to convince the owner to change that! Drainage doesn't look like a problem with the gentle slope I'd be mulching as far out as possible and drenching the soil through the woodchip mulch.

__________________
Sean

Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,
We fell them down and turn them into paper,
That we may record our emptiness.
- Kahlil Gibran