Trees

We haven't yet decided on whether we'll have a tree this Christmas, or what form it will take (creative, made from junk, or traditional); however, we visited a nursery in the quaint, local village of Sherston, which has a wonderful display of cut and free range trees.

The cut ones are displayed in a huge polytunnel and suspended from the roof braces, making an interesting display whereby you can walk around the trees to appreciate their shape and colour, rather than them being in a pile on the floor.

The free range ones are growing in a huge field laid out as a spacious park and are of varying species and ages. It would be a nice idea, and green, to merely rent one in situ for a few quid, decorate it and go to look at it on Christmas Day.

A neighbour planted a rooted Christmas tree in our garden some 30 years ago, before I moved here, but it grew to such proportions that we had to fell it last year as it was endangering powerlines and blocking a neighbour's light. A few years ago I collected some cones from it and harvested the seeds, which I planted in seed trays. Its progeny are now scattered around the garden, growing nicely, but not yet of a suitable height to use as Christmas trees.