HOW I BLEW MY BUDGET ON TREES

When we first came to this garden in 1991 it was an empty field bounded by a gappy hedge. In fact there were two trees – a hazel and a hawthorn. Both are still here, now accompanied by hundreds of other trees, most of which I bought almost by accident.

In 1993 I went to an auction of trees at a local nursery to buy yews for the front garden. I set my budget at £200 – because that was all we had in our bank account. I duly bought some yews, and had a little of my budget to spare. To cut a long, irresponsible story short, I went on bidding. At the end of the day I found I’d bought 1,100 trees and spent £1,400! These provided hedging plants, pleached limes and an avenue, plus standalone trees. It was one of the best investments I have ever made.

I planted those trees when they were small enough to hold in one hand, and they grew with my family and quickly created height and stature (above). Soon some were strong enough to take a hammock or a swing, and it was a momentous day when the biggest tree was large enough for my son to climb.