A riot of coloured bark, an emblem of resilience and final rest, an integral part of rural life and blessed relief from a headache: the willow tree has little to weep about, finds Deborah Nicholls-Lee

As the third-most common tree in the UK, the European ash is a much-loved part of the landscape in both town and countryside. The ash is often used as a symbol of healing, magic and life, such as in N

Carpeting woodland in clouds of white star-shape flowers and filling the air with a heady, intense aroma, wild garlic is abundant in April. This bulb hibernates for most of the year before bursting fo

I like unusual words and there are a couple that seem appropriate for this time of year. March, we know, is a fickle beast, where the weather can flicker from T-shirt to thermals in the course of a da

To hide my new garden’s nakedness, I planted trees. Damson and mirabelle plum, ‘Discovery’ and reinette apples, two pears, a quince and a ‘Nottingham’ medlar. There was a purple-leaved filbert, a ‘Che

Wrapped in the wild and timeless beauty of North West Wales, its landscape forged by the elemental forces of ice, wind and rain, is an oasis of calm and order. It is the beautiful and unique garden of