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The other day there was a tweet* from Gardeners' World regarding a post I wrote on this blog a couple of years ago, about my top five trees for small gardens.While I still stick with those five I thought I might try and add a further five just

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

garden is really too small then plant them in somebody else's (if necessary under cover of darkness).Update: read James's follow-up blog on trees for small gardens, Trees for small gardens 2.

the cute stage and, though delightful if very many ways, can no longer be described as chubby cheeked.I also have to admit that I did very little gardening with them when they were small. I tried a couple of times to get them to help lay bricks or weed

about gardens and dream of seasons as yet unborn. There's a vast choice of stuff out there to keep us amused, from newspaper garden supplements and magazines to books both large and small. I have shelves full of them; some old and some new. How

I have spent the last week on the small, but unbelievably beautiful, island of Colonsay off the west coast of Scotland. I apologise to those of you in the midlands who have been braving flash floods but the weather here has been stunning. Long sunny

One of the enormous privileges of writing this blog (apart, of course, from the legendary seven hour Gardeners' World lunches and scuba diving from the Editor's private yacht) is the chance to write about things I know virtually nothing about

. Like the lives of James Dean or Tupac Shakur, it's short and spectacular. Thereafter, the leaves can be a bit dull and cast a lot of dry shade, so be wary of planting cherries as the sole centrepiece in a small garden. Plant small trees instead

.The story behind their arrival is as follows: a month or two ago I went to lecture at the excellent Garden Museum in London given by a clever and entertaining fellow called Professor James Hitchmough. James works at the University of Sheffield and, in brief

the crowds arrive and the following are my highlights:The winner of a gold medal and best Small Garden in Show is  a designer called Paul Titcomb (who lives near me in Northamptonshire). Paul's garden is a neatly designed Urban Retreat that he has largely