rees have been on my mind in the past few weeks, because I love their winter silhouettes. At this time of the year, as spring approaches, the buds are expanding. Some willows have developed an olive-green haze and the alders remind me of wild heather in the sky. I persuade the Best Beloved to drive whenever possible at the moment, so that I can gaze through the car windows in awe and admiration. Trees are without doubt, winter’s showmen. In rural Gloucestershire, where I live, we are missing lots of our trees. They have been showing symptoms for five years or so. The branches defoliate and then die back. This causes the root plate to shrink and this may mean that the tree topples over. County councils fear litigation, so they have been forced to act.
