Not only does a strong root system support your vines, but it also provides necessary nutrients and moisture absorbed through the ground. After that, you need to continue to prune your grape vine in a particular fashion through the fourth year. After that, all of your pruning efforts are going to be the same in order to establish a healthy grape vine that produces a bountiful crop of grapes.

Select a Strong, Straight StemDuring the First Spring

To give your grape vine the best possible start, you should select the strongest-looking shoot from your new vine. You want to develop a strong, straight stem that is going to be able to support the rest of the grape vine for the rest of its life. Once you make your choice, your goal is to get the stem to grow straight and strong. In most cases, it is going to be necessary for you to use twine, wire, or some similar item to tie your vine to the trellis or stake that you are using to support it. Tie the stem as straight as possible so that it is encouraged to grow straight up.

Prune Small Stems Up Until the First Winter

In your effort to encourage this single, strongest-looking stem to develop into an even stronger one, you need to prune any small shoots that have also grown on the grape vine. These small shoots are suckers that can take away from the growth of the primary stem. Once these smaller shoots are pruned, all of the nutrients and energy are channeled into the growth of the primary stem, assisting it in its growth. During the first year of growth, you should continue to prune any additional shoots as they appear so that they do not take away from the growth of your grape vine.Due to all of this pruning activity, you are not going to get much growth from the vine except in that one, single stem. Continue to trim away all new shoots until winter arrives.

Second-Year Grape Vines: Second Spring

Once your grape vine has reached its second spring, you are going to allow it to begin to grow new shoots. As each new shoot or stem appears, you should train it to grow in a specific direction so that you can channel the growth of the grape vines to go in different directions. Typically, you should see new growth at both the bottom and the top of the vine.

Second-Year Grape Vines: Second Winter

Once the growing season concludes, it is time to prep your grape vine for its winter slumber. Identify the second strongest stem. Prune away all of the smaller shoots, leaving onlythe primary and secondary stems on the vine. It is important for both of these stems to continue to grow stronger prior to allowing any other shoots to grow.

Third-Year Grape Vines: Third Spring

Once the third spring arrives, all focus is going to be on these two stems of the grape vine. Your vine should produce quite a bit of lush growth at this point, and you can allow it to continue to grow until winter arrives.

Third-Year Grape Vines: Third Winter

As winter approaches, it is important to identifythe third largest stem so that you can allow it to remain over the winter. You should trim away all growth that is not contained on the three primary stems of your grapevine. This type of pruning is referred to as cane pruning.Make sure that your vines are tied to the trellis so that they maintain their position over the winter.

Fourth-Year Grape Vines: Fourth Spring

During the fourth year of growth, you are going to undertake a gardening procedure known as spur pruning. During this process, you need to reduce the new growth, which should be quite a bit, by removing all growth except for a few nodes on each stem or shoot. Basically, you are trimming longer branches while allowing shorter onesto remain as is.You need to continue this type of pruning throughout the remainder of the lifespan of your vines.

Pruning your grape vines is an essential gardening task that provides the healthiest and fullest crop of grapes. While the first spring is the most critical one since it establishes the main stem or branch of your grape vine, each subsequent season is equally important.

Support devices such as cages, stakes, trellises, and spirals are designed to provide several years of use without any problems whatsoever. If constructed properly, they are sturdy enough to support full-size plants laden with tomatoes or other produce.

Securing Tomato Plants: Stakes

Using a single stake to secure a single tomato plant is one of the oldest methods of providing support for your plant and the fruit that it produces. Unfortunately, it is also one that requires additional work throughout the growing season.

When you first place your tomato plant next to its stake, you must secure it using some flexible twine. As the plant continues to grow, you must continue to secure it so that it does not strain and break against the initial ties. Place the stake in the ground first to avoid damaging the roots of an established plant.

Securing Tomato Plants: Spirals

Tomato spirals offer a useful variation of the tomato stake. The spiral offers a single support that spirals around rather than remaining in a straight position. Gardeners are still going to need to secure the tomato plant to the spiral, but its construction makes it possible for the tomato plant to find a place to wrap itself as it grows. Tomato spirals should be placed in the ground before you plant to avoid any damage to the roots. As your tomato plants grow, you should occasionally secure the plant to the spiral.

Securing Tomato Plants: Cages

Tomato cages are excellent at corralling your plants and keeping them upright. Premade tomato cages are typically round in shape and include several different rings that increase in size as they reach the top of the cage. You can also make your own tomato cages using lumber. Of course, you will end up with a square tomato cage that takes up slightly more space in your garden. This is something you should consider if you have a limited amount of space.

Securing Tomato Plants: Trellises

Three basic types of trellises are commonly used to secure tomato plants: tepee trellises, fence trellises, and A-frame trellises. The style you decide to use depends partly on the location where you are going to do your tomato planting. The fence trellis is narrower than the other two types of trellis.

The fence trellis is the simplest one to make and use. It can be places in any size garden, taking up only as much room as you need it to do. To build your fence trellis, you need the proper materials including posts and some type of wire, twine, or netting. Place the posts in a row in the area of the garden where you are going to plant your tomatoes.

Attach your twine, wire, or netting to the posts to give your plants something to cling to for support as they grow. It is best to build your trellis fence first so that you can avoid damaging the roots of the tomato plants. Tepee trellises are excellent sources of support for your tomato plants as well as for pole beans and peas. You can even use tepee trellises to support cucumbers and melons if you like.

To build your tepee trellis, you should purchase posts and some type of twine, wire, or netting. If your trellisfence is long, you’ll need to place additional posts to provide the support it is going to need once your plants begin to produce. Each tepee trellis should have a minimum of three poles up to a maximum of six poles. The type of pole that you use depends on the plants that you are growing.

Sturdier poles should be used for plantsthat produce heavily including tomato plants. Your poles should have a length often to twelve feet. This way, you can secure them firmly by digging and placing them into the ground and still have enough length to create your tepee. If you use sturdy poles, you might be able to allow them to remain freestanding.

You can secure the top of your tepee trellis by wrapping the wire, netting or twine firmly around the tips of the poles asyou latch them together. String wire, twine, or netting from one pole to the other to give your plants a secure place to grow while getting the support they need. One of the added benefits of using tepee trellises for your tomatoes and vining plants is that you create a shady nook for small children to play or cats to rest. The A-frame trellis is easily constructed using lightweight lumber.

You will also need some wire netting, garden mesh, or twine to provide support for the plants as they climb up the A-frame. Trellises of this nature are quite versatile since both sides of the trellis can be used to support tomatoes and other vining plants. If you want to keep your a-frame trellis portable, keep the size small enough that you can tote it around. If you want the best possible crop of tomatoes from your garden, consider using a support system to keep your plants from falling all over the ground.

Tomato stakes, cages, spirals, and trellises can be used to reduce pest and soil damage encouraging to a healthier crop. You should decide which type of support to use based upon the space that you have in the garden as well as your desire to make the support yourself or to purchase it from the store.

Carnations: Not all carnations are strongly scented. Those that are scented have a spicy, clove-like fragrance. Carnations come in a variety of attractive colors including white, delicate pinks and yellows, and deep red and plum shades. Carnations are widely available as bedding plants, and will often live on as perennials, blooming year after year. They are sometimes labeled as dianthus since they are a part of the dianthus family. Carnations make very attractive cut flowers and last a long time in a vase.

Sweet peas: Sweet peas are an old fashioned favorite of fragrance lovers. Alas, many of the modern sweet pea varieties have been bred to have large, beautiful flowers, and in the process of creating beautiful blooms the wonderful sweet scent is often missing. Sweet peas are best grown from seed in a climate of cool springs and cool summers. Sweet peas plants are natural climbers and they will need to be planted near some sort of support such as a fence.

Sweet Alyssum: The sweet alyssum plant is a low-growing annual, easily grown from seed. It produces masses of tiny flowers that spread out to form a beautiful honey-scented ground cover. Sweet alyssum flowers range in color from white to various shades of purples, pinks and apricot. The plants are less than two inches in height and they have a spread of about ten inches. Sweet alyssums make attractive additions to hanging baskets and are often used as edging plants for borders. They also love the sun.

Lavender: The highly fragrant lavender plant is often classified as a herb. Although the pale purple flower of the lavender plant is not showy, it is attractive, and its charming unique scent makes it worth planting in the garden. When dried, the leaves and flowers of lavender will keep their strong scent for many months, and are frequently used to make sachets and potpourris for indoor use.

There are many other plants that you can use for a great summer flower garden, but if you’re just starting out, I recommend you check out some of the above first – you won’t be disappointed!

Container gardening gives you an advantage of ideal gardening soil, guaranteeing some good success. Simple peat moss mixed up with some good potting soil along with perlite and vermiculite would help in holding the moisture for a longer period of time. Firstly, just look at your area and decide on the container size you would like and then decide on the plants which you want to plant in your container garden. Do some calculations about how much sunlight is available and when, since many plants would not like to be exposed to sunlight through out the day while some require sunlight for almost whole day. Do some research over what plants would flourish in your surrounding area and in the container because some plants needs a fair bit of place to grow properly.

After considering the size of the container, make a check over the drainage holes it has; they should be adequate in the bottom and see how much depth would you need since plant’s roots would grow and they would not like to stay all congested up after the soil getting filled up otherwise it would be a total mess. Remember that the garden plants for containers are not able to move downwards because of surface water and at the same time lack of surface water will quickly finish them as well.

Get the largest containers you can possibly afford to fulfill this gardening hobby and give some good tailoring to the greenery considering the sunlight’s availability. Make sure you water your plants daily when hot summers hit. You can also get containers that are self-watering for your ease. Having a container garden is easily affordable fulfilling your desire at the same time so what are you waiting for? Go get some greenery and enjoy its pleasure and design a small yet cute garden in a container.

Further Readings:

• How to Grow Organic Flowers in Containers

When we talk about growing herbs, there is an entire history attached to it. Herbs are used since ages for preparing medicinal remedies; some of them even are proved to be working by medical science today. The human body can benefit from medicinal herbs in more then just a couple of ways such as cleansing the body and getting rid of all the toxins and bacteria that builds up inside us due to waste material getting stuck in our colons with time causing illnesses, many vital organs start getting strengthened having more resistance power to fix their own problems and also keeping the immune system in good shape and strong in order to stop the outside intruders (diseases) from making us a target.

There are several herbs that count as medicinal herbs today and are being used effectively as or in medicines by professionals and doctors such as Ginseng, Aloe, Eucalyptus, Chamomile, Gingko, Garlic, Ginger, Spearmint, and Peppermint. Besides these famous medicinal herbs comes a list of herbs never even heard of or people know very little about them such as Butcher’s Broom, Blood Root, Devil’s Claw, and Sassafras along with several others that only professionals are aware of. Do not think that herb is a cure to everything since each medicinal herb has its specific quality of curing something.

In the current medical world, most of the medicines carry dangerous side effects with them and this is where medicinal herbs come into play keeping you safe. What can be better then to grow more and more medicinal herbs and stay away from all the health diseases and disorders?

Above mentioned information clearly reveals the importance and advantages of growing medicinal herbs. I am sure that by now you must have got an idea that why medicinal herbs are important.

Soon you will see your neighbors curious about how you did all the arrangement and the smile on your face would be right through your heart. Just make sure that the time of the year matches with the types of flowers you are arranging in your garden. Season matching with flowers is very essential to enjoy the true beauty. It would not be only your home enjoying the beauty of flowers but the occasions coming along would benefit from it as well such as a party at your place or Christmas coming up or may be some long not seen relatives visiting you. Family and friends are left delighted with decoration done by flowers. It is very cost-effective along with providing natural beauty and a cleaner environment to breath in. Color preference is something your arrangement should be based upon. Make sure the existing displays or your house color matches the setup. Internet has a made the life lot easier for people, it was not easier before to shop for outdoor flowers so do a little surfing and pick up the ones matching your mood from the internet.

If you think you are getting confused or this task seems to be harder then you expected then remember that your florist awaits you with his expertise and advice to offer, ask him or her what to purchase and how and where to plant it. A good flower arrangement in your home & garden would give you a pleasant feeling and will set you in a mood whenever you glance at it so why not give life this positive change right now?

Shrubs are different from each other, so you should know which shrubs to go with for your garden. Your landscape will bring diverse results with diverse kinds of shrubs. Your plan should be a little futuristic focusing on what you really want and what would you get by planting a certain type of shrub. Shrubs are all about adding beauty and color to the garden and here a few most recommended shrubs you might want to go for.

Azalea tops the list; these are flowering shrubs that stay at the peak of beauty at the time they bloom. You would only get a flower per stem but stems are quite a lot meaning that it is going to be a color-mania at their bloom time. Acidic garden soil best suits these shrubs and they need a shady position to grow. Azalea does have a few various species as well so a little research is required to see what would suit you and which ones need pruning regularly.

Then comes the hardy shrub rose, this shrub type is also popular because of its different colors. They do not ask for deep and expensive maintenance and are disease resistant as well unlike the other roses. The best part is that these shrubs bloom almost in every season spreading their beauty and colors in your garden. They do not really have any planting requirements so plant them anywhere you want to see a beauty boost in your garden.

Hydrangea plants also count as shrubs adding lots of color to the existing beauty of your garden. They would suit around the borders and relatively in large bunches; most gardens seem to be incomplete without this shrub.

Many people have misconceptions about shrubs being color-less or just green, let me tell you that along with the above mentioned shrubs almost all the others carry fantastic colors with them and that is why they are so important for a garden to look bright and blossoming.

Medlar

I am thinking now of the medlar, Mespilus germanica, an easily grown fruit of unusual taste and appearance borne on a tree with a quaint gnarled ‘old man’ look about it. With bright green foliage and white or pinkish tinged flowers, it is a considerable asset to the olde worlde garden. If one is a purist about these things, it can be treated as an apple in all respects, although I prefer to leave it alone except for the removal of untidy branches. The fruits form during summer and should be allowed to hang on the tree until late autumn, after which they can be spread out in a cool airy place until bletted. This really means that the fruits are starting to decay, and it is at this time that they are ready for eating or converting into wine or jelly. The taste for medlars is an acquired one, but if you are really interested in producing fruit rather than considering the tree purely as decorative, then get the cultivar ‘The Nottingham’. This is often available as a standard or half standard grafted on to a pear, hawthorn or quince rootstock.

Quince

The quince, Cydonia oblonga, and the med­lar are closely related and desire similar garden conditions, except that the fruits of the quince are used when ripe and should not be picked until they are fully mature. A number of kinds are in cultivation, all excel­lent decorative trees, but not always easy to come by. The Portugal quince is the most likely to be encountered and is the best sort for cooking and preserving. The apple and pear-shaped cultivars differ only in shape and keeping quality, while ‘Bereczki’ is well thought of by those with a delicate palate. The quince is a handsome spreading tree with broad green leaves, white spring blos­som, and lovely grey bark. An easy going character for which I have a strong affec­tion.

Peaches, apricots and nectarines

I also like to see a peach or apricot in the cottage garden. Usually a hit and miss affair outdoors when it comes to fruit, they are very much a part of old cottage gardens where they can still be seen clothing south­erly or westerly walls. Fruit is anyway a secondary consideration when they are grown outside, it is for the sparkling pink blossoms that bedeck their naked branches in early spring that most cottagers grow them. If a peach or two can be secured this is an added bonus, but not a major consider­ation.

The number of cultivars available that have any prospect of flourishing outside are somewhat limited, especially amongst the apricots. ‘Moorpark’ is the easiest to get hold of, a large rounded, yellowish fruit with one side a reddish-brown colour. It is seldom ripe before early autumn, so if you hope for something earlier then try ‘Early Moorpark’. Peach cultivars are more abun­dant, the American ‘Amsden June’ being the earliest while the handsome large fruited ‘Duke of York’ runs it a close second. The best known of all though, is ‘Peregrine’, a late summer kind with medium-sized fruit of excellent quality. We must not forget nectarines, a sort of smooth skinned peach amongst which ‘Early Rivers’ and ‘Lord Napier’ are the most common.

The cultivation of peaches, nectarines and apricots in the cottage garden is very similar. Remember that if you seek fruit, and indeed flower, that apricots bear fruit on spurs as well as on young wood. This means that when pruning apricots, unwanted laterals should be cut back to two buds instead of being removed altogether. All three kinds enjoy life on a sunny wall in an alkaline soil.

Of course it would be easy to justify the inclusion of apples, pears, cherries, plums and other top fruits here because they often form an integral part of the cottage garden and have been traditionally planted in the ornamental part. However, I think that I have probably gone down the road as far as I can with fruits of culinary value, that is unless you include the nuts. There are in­numerable nuts that can be grown in the garden, but the most appropriate are the cobs and filberts.

Cob nuts and hazel nuts

The cob nut is the type in which the outer husk is very short, while the filbert has a longer outer husk which totally enfolds it. Several cultivars are available, amongst them ‘Cannon Ball’, ‘Cosford’ and ‘Kentish Cob’. Nuts will grow in almost any soil, but a free-draining loam is ideal. They grow well in the shade and can be interplanted with other shrubs in a border, but at least two different varieties should be grown to ensure adequate pollination. Nuts are rather different from other fruiting plants in that they produce both male and female catkins which are pollinated by the wind. These appear before the foliage, and onee their work is done, the bushes can be pruned so that just enough nut-bearing wood remains to give an acceptable crop.

The bushes should be encouraged to develop an urn-shaped framework, the lead­ing growths being shortened and thinned. Wood that carried a crop the previous year must be spurred back. Occasionally wands or suckers spring up from the roots and these should be torn away. Nuts are ready to harvest during early autumn, just as the foliage is turning a lovely butter-yellow. After picking, spread them out in trays in a cool, well-ventilated building. They will be ready for use during the winter.

The nuts also have amongst their number several varieties that are grown exclusively for foliage colour. The golden-leafed hazel nut, Corylus avellana ‘Aurea’ has golden leaves throughout the year, but I am afraid that I cannot get too excited about this as it needs very careful placing in partial shade if leaf scorch is to be avoided. This does not happen with C. maxima ‘Purpurea’ which sports handsome purplish leaves on an upright shrub of stately aspect. This is lovely next to the pendulous willow-leafed pear, Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’ which forms a round topped small tree clothed in a tumbling cascade of silver-grey foliage. One of the best of the silver or grey-leaved sub­jects for the cottage garden and one of the few that is reliably hardy.

Further Readings:

• HOW TO REVIEW THE SITE IN COTTAGE GARDENING
• HOW TO ATTRACT FRIENDLY INSECTS TO YOUR GARDEN

Wallflowers and other spring flowering sub­jects which are associated with cottage gar­dens are often also important formal bed­ding subjects. As intimated earlier, formal bedding schemes are definitely out, so re­gard these plants in a different way and treat them as our great grandparents did; merely as additional plants for the border. As long as you choose the standard wallflower culti­vars and avoid the true dwarfs, then this mental transition is not difficult to make. Use mixed strains like ‘Fair Lady’ or ‘Per­sian Carpet’ for making bold  drifts of colour, but utilize single colours such as ‘Blood Red’ and ‘Cloth of Gold, for filling gaps in mixed plantings.

Wallflowers are the gilliflowers of old, not only providing rich colour for the late spring garden, but filling the air with a sweet fragrance. If they remain in good health following flowering allow them to remain, for strictly perennials, they will develop a woody framework and take on the venerable look that wallflowers in cottage gardens should have. Do not forget that other wallflower Cheiranthus allionii, which the botanists now tell us is not a wallflower at all, but which will remain with me as the Siberian wallflower for ever. I have men­tioned elsewhere how useful this bright or­ange, sweetly scented perennial plant can be when associated with the lovely white Iris florentina. However, that is not its only great association for it can be mixed with the azure hummocks of forget-me-not with tremendous effect.

Forget-me-nots are great traditional plants of the cottage garden, but ones which deteriorate quickly if not properly main­tained. Always grow fresh plants each year if you wish to maintain quality as most culti­vars are truly biennial. If they seem to persist it is unlikely that the same plants are flowering each year. Usually it is seed that has dropped into the centre of the crown that germinates and produces what appears to be a perennial plant that the gardener believes is ‘reverting’. Individual forget-me-not plants do not revert, but strains deteriorate with each succeeding generation if not rigorously reselected and nowadays a number of the cultivars popularly grown are of F, origin.

The only forget-me-not that is truly per­ennial and likely to find a place in the cottage garden is the moisture-loving Myo-sotis scorpioides. Sometimes its selected form ‘Semperflorens’ is grown as a perennial in the mixed border on heavy soil or where there is a damp or waterlogged patch. Otherwise the named kinds should be rep­laced each year after flowering. At present there is little to choose in popularity between ‘Blue Ball’ and ‘Royal Blue’, and if you need a white form there is a variety referred to as alba offered by one or two seedsmen. Myosotis are best produced as boxed plants for transplanting during the autumn. Open ground plants are very diffi­cult to manage and almost impossible to get established unless you remove them to their permanent quarters very early in their life. Apart from their value as low growing plants for the front of the border, all the forget-me-nots mix well visually with old fashioned tulips of various kinds and offset the bright colours of wallflowers. Alone they are a little frothy and misty, but as a foil or contrast they are superb.

Polyanthus and pansies

You could not say the same about the polyanthus, for these are available in a wide range of brilliant colours which can be used to highlight particular garden features. They need using with an element of caution, for some of the more recent hybrids tend to have an iridescence that gives a certain brashness that is not in keeping with our concept. Some of the older, smaller flowered and cheaper strains are the most appropri­ate. Avoid any of the ‘Pacific Giants’, the blue-flowered hybrids and those derived from the ‘Cowichan Strain’. Admirable though all of these are, none are really compatible with the spring garden as I see it. If you can get hold of a few of the old named varieties that can only be increased by division after flowering, then do so. These were the true inhabitants of the cot­tage garden, along with fairly mediocre seed raised plants. I am not suggesting that mediocrity be brought into the garden, but where a lot of plants are needed or economy is the order of the day, then select a popular mixture of a seed-house strain. Good colour forms can always be selected and divided to bulk up stocks of desirable plants.

Most pansies have now become so far removed from the little heartsease Viola tricolor, that it is difficult to include them in the cottage garden. I much prefer the face­less violas, for these are of smaller size and equal diversity with a flowering period that often outlasts its cousins. Most are derived from V. cornuta, a most useful blue-flow­ered plant itself which can be raised from cuttings as well as seed. There are separate colours available, but I much prefer a rus­tic-looking mixture like ‘Toyland’. Seed raising is perfectly adequate for this, but do replace the plants each year and weed out any self-sown seedlings. Violas grown well are a great asset, when repeat flowering or growing as second generation accidents they are a disaster. If you must grow pansies, and on reflection perhaps you should, then do not be any more ambitious than trying ‘Swiss Giants’. This strain has all the col­ours that you are likely to require in accep­table shades and the flowers are weather­proof and of sensible dimensions. A new cultivar that I have recently tried in which the flower size is modest and the varying colouration pleasing is called ‘Duet’. Splen­did little plants of similar stature to the bedding violas provided a scintillating show of restful colour from late spring until the first sharp autumn frost.

Other biennials

Another plant that gives value for money, but of which I am always rather nervous, is the double daisy, Bellis perennis, a form of our native wild daisy. Technically a peren­nial, this is another case where it should be treated as a biennial, for if left to seed, a host of undesirable weedy seedlings will become established not only in the border, but in the lawn as well. The majority of popular strains are in shades of pink, red and white and are derived from the full double form of the daisy called monstrosum. There are also a few separate named cultivars about like the red flowered ‘Etna’ and soft pink ‘Alice’.

Named varieties are also making an ap­pearance amongst the sweet williams, although none have acquired great popular­ity. Every gardener that I have spoken to regards the mixed auricula-eyed strains of sweet williams as unbeatable. I have to admit that, for vigour and reliability, I have to agree. Treated as wallflowers they can go on for ever. Well almost, for they are truly perennials and if looked after as such and regularly fed will come up with a good show for a few years.

Relatives of the pinks and therefore within the embrace of the dianthus, they revel in a well-drained, alkaline soil in full sun. I think that they are excellent as mem­bers of the mixed or herbaceous border, but many gardeners grow them for their top quality cut flowers. Whatever your justifica­tion, they are important members of the cottage garden, providing colour and char­acter at that in-between time after the spring flush has finished but before summer blossoming has commenced. Apart from conventional sweet williams there are some annual ones available from certain nurseries that can be sown in early spring for flower­ing the same year.

Further Readings:

• HOW TO RAISE HARDY BIENNIALS
• How to Winterize your Perennial Plants

The stagshorn sumach, Rhus typhina, is a splendid example of what we should look for. An easy going small tree or shrub with large pinnate leaves which turn vivid orange and red in the autumn, each branch crowned with contrasting conical deep red-brown clusters of fruits. A suckering sub­ject, this should be planted on poor soil in an out of the way place where it can sucker freely and provide a colourful background for choicer subjects.

The elderberries are similar propositions; for although highly decorative, they are a bit coarse for the more intimate garden and make a better background than focal point. Most of the green-leaved kinds turn yellow during the autumn, but the purple-leaved Sambucus nigra ‘Purpurea’ and much-divided fern-leaved elder, S. n. ‘Laciniata’ are excellent throughout the summer as well.

Crab apples can also provide useful sum­mer leaf colour, although traditionally thought of as autumn foliage and fruiting subjects. The hybrid Malus purpurea is one of the best all round kinds with dark pur­plish-green foliage and during spring, rosy-crimson flowers. The small apple-like fruits are light crimson-purple and very similar to those of the well known ‘Profusion’. In many ways this remarkable cultivar is superior to the straightforward hybrid, sporting coppery-crimson leaves and wine-red flowers. Be careful how you use it though, as in some gardens it could look a little brash. I would also be cautious about the use of other first class kinds like ‘Golden Hornet’ and ‘Red Sentinel’. They are so good that in the cottage garden they appear too good to be true and then are out of keeping.

Few early cottagers would have expected a third of the yield of fruits provided by ‘Golden Hornet’. But it would not have been this crab that they would have favoured. The crab apples of cottage gar­dens always had to yield useful fruits as well as provide decoration and in many cases this would have been that old stalwart ‘John Downie’, a lovely little tree that is as popu­lar now as it was at the end of the last century. Of small neat habit, it has typical apple foliage, white blossoms and gorgeous, large, conical, orange and red fruits that make a fine jelly.