The appearance of the first spring blossom is a much-anticipated seasonal landmark, capturing all the excitement and promise of this wonderful time of year. There is an overwhelming selection of sprin

At the end of last year, the heavily tilting Cotoneaster cornubia in the shadiest corner of my garden finally slumped to the ground. There wasn’t a storm: the poor tree had simply spent too long veeri

Planting schemes should never stand still, so let’s reassess, reshape and reinvigorate

John Massey’s Ashwood Nurseries has been breeding superb hellebores for the past 35 years, and they are acknowledged to be the best in the world. It all began because John was looking for winter work

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

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