UNLIMITED

The English Garden

Ripe for the PICKING

I fell in love with orchards in the summer of 2001. We’d just bought a house in Somerset that came with a small, broken-down cider orchard. It was sadly neglected: the trees were unpruned and stood at drunken angles, or they had succumbed completely to lie flat out, used by the sheep as back scratchers in the June heat. Many had given up the ghost long ago; some staggered on like old men weighed down by their improbably enormous burdens of mistletoe.

Neglected it was, but it was not silent. Our old orchard was full of flying, creeping, buzzing, knocking, noisy animals. Lying in the grass, I couldn’t believe the life I saw and heard around me. It turns out that orchards are absolutely brilliant

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The English Garden

The English Garden1 min read
Contributors
Andrea specialises in photographing plants and gardens around the world. She’s passionate about capturing gardens when they’re at their magical peak, which she’s achieved with Madresfield on p24. Freelance writer Philip has had a life-long love of pl
The English Garden2 min read
Welcome
Gardening, especially when you take on a new plot, can feel like an archaeological dig. The things you unearth as you clear and plant provide clues to its past and its former owners. Shards of blue pottery are common for many; in my garden it’s marbl
The English Garden5 min read
The Stuff of Legend
Approaching the village of Rockingham from the fens of East Anglia is something of a revelation. Main Street with its broad grass verges and pretty front gardens rises sharply, and gazing up between stone cottages you catch glimpses of an imposing bu

Related Books & Audiobooks