Two long Covid years, not going anyway except to Landmark buildings with the family – great but there’s rain, shopping, washing up and cooking – we take it in turn.  These days I am slow, and Bob’s walking is poor.  He says mournfully, I’ll never go to Egypt again … But, Margot and I look up flights, and there are cheap EasyJet flights to Hurghada on the Red Sea.  We are booked!  Geordie buys me three prints from the bookshop, torn from old books, of Luxor from the water, Valley of the Kings and Plain of Thebes. The Covid paperwork is fearful, but Margot is enthusiastic and orders Covid...

 CHAPTER NINE Shrubs  The word Shrub comes from the Old English scrybb, related to the Low German shrubben meaning coarse, uneven.  Forget these ungracious connotations.  Shrubs make for a varied border in their own right, and can demarcate spaces, leading to places not initially seen.  All below, except the golden choisya, will grow in sun or shade, by which I mean they are best sited where in summer they get a splash of sun for an hour or more.  Shrubs make for a varied border in their own right.  Some shrubs like weigela, lilac, deutzia and philadelphus are not listed here because their time...

                                                        CHAPTER EIGHT Leaves and Trees Leaves Plant catalogues would have it otherwise, but leaves are often more important than flowers.  They last an entire season, and there’s no need to dead head.  Varied leaves can give an impression of intrigue, creating a lively party you want to join.  This comes from mingling and contrast such as ferny leaves beside solid leaves, feathery leaves and lacy leaves, matt and shining leaves, and various colours.  Some fine performers are (fuller details in...

                                                               PART TWO                                                      CHAPTER SEVEN  Practicalities  Attitude Relax.  Let go, be tolerant, accept the odd holes in a hosta leaf, a few misshapen flowers.  If the hosta is destroyed by slugs, grow another in a tub where they can’t reach it, or grow something else. Don’t use words like plague, infestation, pests, horror, nuisance, don’t treat your garden as a battlefield where the fighting never stops. Don’t be seduced by...

       CHAPTER SIX                                                 Downsides of Gardening  If you don’t employ a gardener, your garden necessitates continuous toil.  Winter may provide a brief and welcome break, but there’s no such thing as sustainable gardening.  A truly sustainable garden which did its own thing would have little but ground elder, brambles and bindweed.  Even the plantless gravel gardens of Japan require constant raking and the removal of weeds which appear (where from?) with depressing inevitability.  Your designer may...