Bloom

A few years ago, my next-door neighbour took an industrialstrength weedkiller to the brambles and bindweed that towered over the boundary of the fence at the back of his garden. He used a pressure sprayer so powerful that it took out the plants that had risen and tumbled over my own fence too. The devastation was almost instant. The following year the loss I felt deepened – gone were the pretty bramble flowers, the blackberries that I liked to turn into sharp sorbet, and the thicket of leaves the sparrows loved to shelter within. I thought the damage would be permanent, but I hadn’t counted on the resilience of nature. Just a couple of years on and the brambles are higher than ever, I have more blackberries than I know what…

Sweet and pretty but actually very robust, the daisy-like forms of asters can be relied upon for autumn petal colour (purples, pinks, blues and white) and sunny yellow centres that provide late-season nectar. From the Greek for ‘star’, an aster truly is an eye-catching performer, often perennial and excellent when cut for the vase, it can form tall mounds of leafy stems dotted with lots and lots of flowers. Because taxonomists like to keep us all on our toes, the genus Aster was split into several different genera a few years ago, and you’ll find various asters now going by the name of Symphyotrichum (mostly those known as Michaelmas daisies) among others. Whatever name you find them under, you’ll be getting a hardworking garden star.…

VISIT FESTIVAL OF NATIONAL NATURE RESERVES The UK’s first National Nature Reserve (NNR), designated in 1951, was Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross (pictured). Set in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands, it rewards the intrepid – make the trek and you might enjoy a sighting of a golden eagle or, if you’re really lucky, the reclusive pine marten. On a roll, the Nature Conservancy purchased Yarner Wood on Dartmoor to create England’s first National Nature Reserve in 1952. There are now hundreds more across the UK, and to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this vital resource, Natural England has launched the Festival of National Nature Reserves, giving us even more reasons to head outdoors with a programme of events throughout autumn, from sunrise yoga in Hatfield Forest in Essex to skygazing in…

Juniper is a plant steeped in mythology and folklore. In Looking After Juniper – a dossier by the conservation charity Plantlife, whose work studying and conserving juniper is extensive – there are pages of superstitions and beliefs about the plant, which was one of the first tree species to grow in the UK after the last Ice Age. ‘In Scotland, juniper was used in “saining rites” usually for the New Year,’ it says, referring to an intense sort of smudging in which juniper bushes were burned indoors, filling a home with smoke, before fresh air was let in to mark a new year. ‘In Sutherland,’ it continues, ‘juniper wood was used to make teething rings to protect babies. Sprigs of juniper were tied to horse’s tails to keep them safe. In…

5 TREES Tony Kirkham MBE Former head of the arboretum, gardens and horticultural services at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew When I’m selecting trees for a garden, especially a small garden with limited space, I look for as many different seasonal attributes as possible to increase and spread the ornamental value from that one specimen. The more attributes, the more space it deserves in the garden. Here are my top five small- to medium-sized trees that I’d happily plant in my small garden, and that are readily available in any tree nursery or garden centre. ARBUTUS UNEDO/STRAWBERRY TREE A medium-sized evergreen tree with a wide, bushy crown. The leathery leaves are a dark, shiny green and highlight the white, bell-shaped flowers in autumn, which are pollinated by bees. These mature into orange, strawberry-like fruits that…

An ancient way of growing practised across the globe, no-dig gardening has increased in popularity in recent years as gardeners embrace more environmentally friendly ways of growing. I have been using no-dig methods for 14 years, in market gardens and large private estates, as well as allotments, small beds and pots on a concrete patio. Soil has been misunderstood for a long time – there was a belief that there needed to be a fine tilth for plants to grow, and that digging it over in the autumn would break up the soil during the winter. We now know that far from being helpful, this actually harms the soil structure and the soil life. Keeping the soil structure intact preserves the vital mycorrhizal networks and allows the soil structure to remain…