Winter is a brilliant time to garden visit. If you think you haven’t got time, then simply be more observant when you travel around by bus, train or on foot. Some trees and shrubs take on a whole new look in the middle of winter.

While the gardens are bare of deciduous foliage it’s a good time to look at some of the plants that star at this time of year. One group of trees, which are revered for their winter bark, are birch.

This winter I’ve been to visit one of my favourite gardens and nurseries, Stone Lane Gardens, near Chagford in Devon. It’s a magnificent collection of wild origin Birch (Betula) and Alder (Alnus) trees and actually holds the National Collection of both. www.stonelanegardens.com, and unlike many arboretums it doesn’t just have one of each species, there are actually groups of birch from different origins around the world, planted in copses within the sloping grounds of this exceptional garden.

Most people, when they think of birches, visualize the common silver birch (Betula pendula) or perhaps the pure white stems of the Himalayan birch (Betula utilis Jacquemontii) but in fact there are many more fascinating and beautiful plants within this genus. Two of my favourites are Betula davurica – This tree is peculiar in the way that the bark peels. It comes from central Korea and Japan and has an amazing, flaky appearance, and Betula ermanni a tree with soft, salmon pink bark that is simply stunning in the evening light and comes alive in winter sunlight. It’s a magnificent garden tree but it does need plenty of space to grow.

Here’s a link to an article I wrote about this Birch collection and nursery in the Daily Telegraph Gardening Section.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3520203/Birch-trees-Bringing-back-the-birch.html

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