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

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

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

This is the month of horticultural happiness, and with everything looking fresh, green and lush, even the burgeoning weeds become – briefly – delightful additions to the garden. Selfheal sprouts gaily

Professor Buczacki is a borticultural expert, weiter and former chair of Gardeners Question Time

Whether mutually beneficial or a parasitic nuisance, Nature’s symbiotic relationships are as multifarious as they are marvellous, says John Lewis-Stempel