Well what do you expect for the final year! Doesn't that make one of them a blue moon? Will it affect my bay tree? - Actually, all four trees in my garden are burgeoning - the bay has gone from being a twig to a four foot leafy thing, the Christmas tree actually has needles on it for the first time in 2 years, the Pittisporum will need pollarding soon and the holly tree has so many berries, the birds will eat themselves sick on them.

Then there are the two yew trees in pots - The Church of England decided to do 'Yews for the Millennium, and propagated a whole bunch of trees from a couple of sources that are guaranteed 1000 years or more. This is all part of a project (thanks to David Bellamy) to get yews back into churchyards. I've 'acquired' two of them, for my church, and they reside in my garden in pots. They've doubled in height in 6 months...... My first church in the village I grew up in, has a yew that is at least 600 years old. They were planted to keep cows off the tombs, and as the most important people were buried 'nearer to God' i.e., at the East end of the church, that's where most of the single yews will be found. Trouble is, not many churches, particularly city churches, have space for a yew tree these days - they can spread across 60 feet and drain the water table.... great when your foundations crack! Besides, building regulations state that you can't knowingly plant a tree so close to a building that it will interfere with the foundations.

LTS