Autumn glory that deserves more respect

WHEN we bought our country cottage and its bit of land, many years ago now, even the most creative of estate agents would have found it hard to find flattering words to describe it. “With potential” might have been the best they could manage.

The cottage was in ruins and the land consisted of two small fields, bare and weedy. But it did have potential and the first thing we did to realise this potential, even before the deal was signed, was to plant a tree.

But restoring and extending the cottage took every penny we had, and a bit more. This meant that the budget for landscaping was a minus quantity. So I was delighted when a friend with a large garden in Dublin offered me some free tree seedlings.