The trees were there, but the plan showed grass. Survey volunteer Iona checked the scale twice. The gardener who drew it had been meticulous, and the row was too large to overlook accidentally.
A dated photograph showed the trees in containers awaiting planting. The plan belonged to the previous season, before the row existed. Later copies retained the original date in tiny print, while a newer filing stamp made the sheet appear current. The contradiction came from reading the filing date as the drawing date.
Iona found the gardener's proposed revision among loose papers. He died before transferring the change to the clean plan. His pencil sketch included a bench beneath the future canopy, although no bench had been installed.
The garden committee updated the tree plan and considered the bench as a separate proposal. They did not treat every unfinished idea as a binding wish. Iona liked that distinction. Recording what now stood in the garden required one decision; deciding what should be built next required the living people who would use it to make another.