One tree I would always make room for in a garden is a Malus (Crab Apple).
The one in Our Garden@19 is Malus 'Golden Hornet', which I planted after reading
Rosemary Verey's recommendation in her book 'The Garden in Winter'.
Once mature, I have always pruned it to maintain the bowl shape you see below, in blossom...
...this photo shows it with fruit and new growth, that would have been pruned back during the winter.
We visited Highgrove Garden (sorry about the name drop) in 2014 and I noticed, in the vegetable garden, the Malus Golden Hornets ( Rosemary Verey advised Prince Charles in the early years) had been trained into a coronet shape.
I thought a coronet was a little too pretentious for here, whereas a globe would be acceptable.
Instead of cutting off all the new growth, I tied the majority in together to form the basic shape and then spur pruned the remainder as usual.
This picture shows the pruning finished with some of the old fruit still on, which is left for the birds during the cold weather.
The one drawback with 'Golden Hornet' is the yellow fruit turn brown during the winter.
Looking better in the spring with some leaf growth...
...and even better when in blossom...
...which is a very attractive flower.
In summer the apples develop...
...the lovely colour from which the name is derived...
...thereby creating a Golden Globe...
...and some where to hang two bird feeders.
...The Golden Globe illuminated at night.
One of the joys of visiting other gardens, however large or small, is that they can be a source of inspiration.
We will be opening Our Garden@19 again next year for the NGS. Their yellow book is a great source of gardens open to visit throughout the UK.
What have you been inspired to create after a garden visit?
Please click on any picture to create a slide show.
