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This was probably more difficult to create than solve, but, having said that, I am having trouble with my last two, 20A and 28A. I thought 20A was PALM, but that conflicts with 17D. Any hints, please?

Pendragon, the 'years' goes before a substantial growth, a substantial growth in a garden or arboretum...

Thanks, Malone. Only 28A now!

pendragon 20 is a word I didn't know and isn't on sites dealing with thatching. The latter part is one of the 3-letter trees. 28 is a homonym of a creature, and something with 's breadth.

Thanks, Prospero. I was trying to reverse the order of something. And I wasn't too sure about its ending in R.

Just wanted to add my note of appreciation to Claw for a beautifully constructed puzzle, which rewarded with more and more revelations - bravo!

Pendragon, glad we could help, glad you're all sorted now.

I nearly abandoned this with 5 clues left to solve but have now finished with a couple of queries. Great construction by the way!

17a I know the answer, the definition and the word removed but just can't see the wordplay.

29a I can only make the overall 'helpful' content work if I omit a word that's longer than the 2 letter word that I originally omitted (spoiler earlier in the thread). However, that spoils the wordplay for the clue.

I also haven't spotted the 5 across and the 5 down words that hint at who was responsible (although I know who it was).

Doh! and I immediately see 17a after posting

simon - I reckon 17a parses 2 letters for "country club" + 5-letter word for held minus last letter (briefly). Definition last 2 words. I think 28 works with or without the extra word.