Andrew Oldham writes about Pig Row, which is three gardens over a quarter of an acre in Scouthead. Visit at www.lifeonpigrow.co.uk
LATE SEPTEMBER and that nip in the air is with us, nights are drawing in and around you, people are doing the same. Curtains are closing earlier; windows thrown open to the glories of summer are now firmly shut.
We have had a wonderful summer, a summer that took us by surprise after the failings of spring.
Autumn is seen as the slippery slope into winter but it is a mesmerising time of year. Deciduous trees and hedges come into their own.
The leaves of our hornbeam hedge are turning from green and running through a fiery spectrum. Trees are now belting out their lilting swan song, showing us there is colour in the dying of the day.
Give me a hedge rather than a fence. Give me a tree rather than a water feature. We should stand and stare at our trees and hedges, see the colours, point them out to friends, loved ones and strangers.
We watched our Damson this summer skip its autumn colours into death but this is nothing compared to sudden oak death and ash dieback.
Ash accounts for eighty million trees in the UK. Larch is under threat but rather than pulling ourselves back into our warm shells this autumn, plan some planting this winter.
Plant a tree. Select the right tree for the right location. There is a tree for everyone, from an acer griseum to an oak or elm. I know an elm will succumb to Dutch Elm disease but that will not happen for many years and you can enjoy it for that time.
Trees are not forever but the right tree in the right place will outlive all of us and there is no more fitting memorial to any of us than a tree.
