A time to plant

Summer ebbs away, the evenings begin to draw in and it won’t be long before the clocks change. And so the tree planting season gets under way.

At this time of year, everywhere you look there are seeds. The apples shaken from the tree through a windy night now lying in the dewy grass. Acorns around the oak tree still sitting proudly in their cups. And shiny conkers winking from their spiky green cases along the pavement.

Some people may not know that seeds like hawthorn and holly need to lie dormant in the earth through a winter or two before they then awaken and germinate. There are others that are more straightforward; many of the hazelnuts that the squirrel in our garden is frantically burying, will spring up at the edge of the lawn or a flowerbed next year.