Tree of Controversy

I also took some pictures of moss and lichen

It looks like I have entered into a diabolical pact over trees and tree planting.

I am designing a new section of the garden and a battle has been raging over a large native willow, which represents an important visual anchor point in the design. Now, I don’t want this particular willow. It is nothing special, there are millions like it and I have a policy of swapping trees I don’t want, eg self-set ash and sycamore, with nice, posh trees that I do*. But I had planned to leave it there for the time being until I had decided on a replacement. This is a source of contention as someone else wants it gone with all speed.

Part of this plan involves using a JCB to improve drainage and create a terraced valley with access to the stream. When it comes to diggers I am very conservative. They can be something of a blunt instrument and, in my experience, ‘people’ get them in and then the entire project starts to suffer from mission creep. And we don’t do diesel-fuelled, red-mist mission creep in my garden. We do careful, considered, organic groundworks with a clear end in mind.

I am holding my ground, but when pressed as to why it could not be removed when the main groundworks take place I admitted that some of my indecision hung on the fact that specimen trees are not exactly cheap. At which point I was told that if the willow went, a replacement would be paid for – up to a point.

Ok. Not a bad deal. Deals with Beelzebub rarely are on the face of it. But now I have to make a decision. Fast. And be there to keep a goddamn eye on proceedings.** This is a big space in direct view of the house. I was thinking Morus nigra – perhaps too slow growing; Cornus kousa 'Variegata' – maybe not big enough; Liquidambar...white stemmed birch...Crataegus....a delicate ornamental cherry.... What is needed is a specimen tree, 10-15 metres at maturity that will thrive in moist, medium-heavy, somewhat acid soil. Answers on a postcard please!

And what else does the New Year hold? Well, it looks like I will be giving gardening talks more often which is an exciting departure. There are some gardening projects too. What I need most right now (apart from loads of plants and a massive pay rise) is some really heavy-duty gardening gloves – gauntlets, preferably – to deal with the brambles.

Tis a funny thing. The very best ideas arrive with no prompting. All is quiet, then they hit like rain splattering on a window pane, to be caught and chronologued before they run to waste. Silver threads of text whirling into being from blackness and void. You know when the words arrive. All is well. Indeed, the very best work arrives on the page fully formed. In a nirvana of space and intellectual time, the passion and intensity coalesces into something more solid.

Sometimes you travel so fast that you forget that you will probably get further if you stop. Suspect this will be worth remembering in 2012.

*Fear not gentle environmentalist, there are plenty of native trees and we are planting more for the wildlife. All is well.

**This is not so much ‘not in my back yard’ but ‘Yes, in my back yard but just the way I want it – don’t get excitable with no diggers behind my back, ok?!’

A Different View

Sharp angles and offset rhomboids: Heligan in Winter I woke up this morning convinced that it was late. The light was grey behind the curtains and the room was silent. Reluctantly, I looked at my phone and discovered that it was in fact early. It has been a busy few weeks, but walking up the road, the magnolia buds are suddenly swelling in furry promise, and lilacs pertly tipped with green; Crocus tommasinianus have appeared where there were none. Acer griseum and white-barked birches stand bold, in full knowledge that their spare charms will soon be overwhelmed with spring. Time has passed while I was not looking. So as the season creeps forward - and faster it does, when ignored - I am looking back, with a kind of regret. The thing is, that although gardens are considered 'off peak' in winter, there is often no better time to see them. This is the point where they show their true colours and strengths. As a visitor, you can read their geometry and detail without

The Essential Apocalypse Skillset

Let me tell you a story. Several years ago, I was painting the bathroom of a house in Bristol. The window was open and it was a pleasant sort of day and people were wandering past. Around about four o’clock I heard a couple of sets of feet come down the hill and then stop. “Look, cherries!” said one voice (female, mid to late teens). “No, I don’t think they are. They can’t be.” Said the other, doubtfully (ditto). “Well, they look like cherries. Let’s try them!” “No, they are probably berries. Completely different. Some of them are not red, they are blackish. They are probably poisonous.” “Oh. Yes, I suppose so.” (disappointed) The feet moved on. I looked out of the bathroom window at the large and heavily laden cherry tree leaning over the wall of the garden opposite and wondered what the world was coming to. Red Sky in the Morning, Shepherds Warning ((c) N Slade) I am actually still wondering. When my grandfather was a child, he and his brothers (and a dog) ran

On The Road

Galanthus 'Fly Fishing' at Bellefield House . My latest snowdrop crush. Back in the dim and distant mists of time, when dinosaurs roamed the land and pterodactyls were frequent bird table visitors, I spent an enjoyable few years managing rock bands. There were headline gigs, support gigs. Mainstream venues and pubs. In some places the PA was state of the art, in others you thanked your stars for the decent size amp in the back of the van. Some nights the crowd was ecstatic. Others, the bar man, his dog and a couple of regulars would sit there, nodding and comparing the band to musicians that had died before the lead singer was born. Occasionally people listened to the first thirty seconds, got bored and went off to get drunk and find someone to sleep with. So it goes. I have just finished a modestly epic tour of the land, promoting The Plant Lover’s Guide to Snowdrops . And, as I pull myself vertical, brush off the debris and straighten out again, there are som

Electric Green

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