When I was younger I used to love picking blackberries with my parents. It’s not like we did it all the time, but once in a while, bucket in hand, we’d traipse off to Alexander Palace or any other accessible bramble Mecca and pick away until our fingers were stained rosy with juice. BUT, as […]

Imagine you own an orchard… how valuable would it be for you to be able to take your most productive fruit trees, clone them and make more with exactly the same characteristics and yield as the original? Until the advent of vegetative (or non-sexual) propagation this would have been but a dream, but now it’s […]

Trees are wonderful things that bring character, shade and life to your garden, but when they grow too big and are too close to your home they can cause problems – both practical and when it comes to your home insurance. The practical issues that insurers worry about can be placed primarily into two categories: […]

As the grey clouds of winter start to evaporate and the long-missed sun finally emerges, for a little while at least – after all, this is Britain – we can finally, thankfully, say that spring has returned. One advantage of the dark greyness of winter is that you can’t see all the stray fallen branches, […]

What colour should the leaves on a healthy tree be? Easy question, right? Green of course (aside from the glorious reds, golds and browns of autumn for deciduous trees, but that goes without saying). Healthy trees in spring and summer are green, so why do we see so many coniferous trees looking scraggy and brown? […]

When you’re selling your home, you want prospective buyers to imagine themselves living there. That’s why the experts have been saying for years that an uncluttered, stylishly furnished property shows well because it gives the visitor an insight into their idealised home. And it’s why the smell of freshly baked bread or cookies can evoke […]

The weather this year has been crazy. First, storms smashed into us with winds gusting up to 90mph, then the cold seemed to linger for months longer than usual, and finally, in May we had the hottest bank holiday on record as we all wilted in the blazing sunshine. Such weather can weaken our trees […]

Most of the year it’s important to look out for the signs of pests, diseases and fungi that will weaken the trees in your garden, so we’ve put together a quick guide on what to watch out for and when to call in your trusted local tree surgeon or arborist. This is by no means […]

As the days grow longer and each morning it becomes increasingly more difficult to drag yourself from beneath the nice warm duvet, spare a thought for the trees in your garden. Winter is coming. They may seem hardy enough to handle anything, but as temperatures plummet, your trees will face the elements in full force, […]

The hazel is a mysterious tree, treasured as a symbol of knowledge, thought to be magical, and later cultivated for its nuts. Today it’s just another deciduous tree that makes our woodland and gardens look that little bit more wonderful. You can identify a hazel through its hairy stems and leaf buds, its soft downy […]