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's the first in an irregular series on wild plants, which I think should be considered as important as other forms of wildlife in gardens.Just round the corner from me is a very ordinary front garden wall. The houses in the street are mainly Victorian terraces

). 4) The quince.Correct: only one is a fruit.We have just harvested quinces from a neighbour's tree - the one that I planted is only a couple of years old and too pre-pubescent to fruit. The quince (Cydonia oblonga) is a rather neglected tree native

with imagination. I do have exceptionally good taste, though: when the sun shines, Colonsay is paradise on earth. (It's not too bad even when, like much of west Scotland, conditions are extremely wet and windy.)The main house on the island, Colonsay House

. When we built this house there was a lot of wall either side of the front door and I was looking for a suitable climber. There are basically three sorts of plant that are good for covering walls: self clinging climbers (like Hydrangea petiolaris

I've just enjoyed a relaxing hour, cup of tea in one hand, binoculars in the other, gazing out of the window at my garden. Yes, some plants are showing signs of growth, there's still bloom on my winter-flowering viburnum, and the squirrels are still

a hedge, invisible from the house. There are a number of metal plant supports widely available that link together, making enclosures for each plant. Wonders can also be achieved using bamboo canes and string. With larger borders it's often effective

the grass. But then followed hours of turmoil. We pulled and squeezed at the plant, we even tried to loosen the compost with a bread knife. But the palm wouldn't budge. Eventually, we called in the bigger man of the house. Big toys for big boys; the answer

is so unexpected and so swift that you're only able to take six plants from your existing garden.So which six plants will you choose? Will you go for something big - a favourite cherry or a noble oak? Maybe an evergreen to liven up your winter? A rose

of colour, so rose hips come as a welcome lift.Some plants have naturally perfect skeletons - grasses like Calmagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', herbaceous plants like Echinacea purpurea and shrubs like Ceratostigma willmottianum. Others are more

of the house. The wall faced north, so they didn't receive any direct sun at all.Survivors are valuable garden plants, and always worth recommending to others, so when I come across sites with similar challenges, then Anemone japonica (which we now need to call