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I've just spent a fair bit of time trashing and destroying parts of my garden. I do this not out of irritation and frustration, nor have I temporarily lost control of my senses at the first sign of some half-decent weather. No, I do this because I

A few weeks ago I wrote about trees for small gardens. Among the comments (well, to be honest, 33% of the comments) was a request from Daphne for very, very small trees - "very small being up to three metres".Tricky. Three metres is barely a shrub

've resisted burning much in the way of garden refuse as I compost everything I can.Once a year I rent a great big shredder for a weekend and the peace of the countryside is completely disrupted as I spend a couple of happy days half-deafened and covered

and an interesting story.The elder has always been considered a magic plant, supposed to ward off evil and provide useful protection from witches - in some parts of the world cutting down an elder may bring the wrath of some evil sprite upon you. If that is the case

is so extremely laid back and relaxed.In this garden there isn't much really urgent work that needs to be done. Many plants have done their bit and are just hanging around waiting for the winter; those that are still flowering do so with an admirable air

that are still viable. (iv) Plant the seeds that my very efficient wife has ordered. (v) Divide grasses and some herbaceous plants. (vi) Prune and tie back climbing roses. (vii) Cut back willows and dogwoods - although this can wait a bit. (viii) Plant bare

confronted with exotic names like Allium cyathophorum var. farreri or Allium tschimganicum.Obviously the best way to choose your alliums is to hang on to the golden words written on the pages of Gardeners' World Magazine (never does any harm to oil up

be dark and droopy and rapidly on its way to becoming complete mush. There is no chance of any more flowers until next summer. So cut down your plants and dig up the conglomeration of dangling tubers you will find underground. Clean off as much of the wet

next door to a wood. At this time of year, my younger son and I venture forth with loppers and bow saw to coppice some hazel. Coppicing is an ancient form of woodland management where cutting particular trees down leads to regrowth from the stump. Where

, is surrounded by a thick belt of trees that some far-sighted and very sensible forebear planted. This gives the gardens enough shelter from the Atlantic gales to allow all sorts of interesting things to thrive. So far, so good. However, one of the problems