fig trees generally need loamy soil for good drainage, though survive in clay-loam as well. they need a lot of water. they usually thrive in sunlight, though in early winter, they should be protected from direct sunlight and cold winds. they're best planted in late autumn or early spring. They should be fertilised annually when the buds swell. they should be pruned slightly in mid to late winter. Only harvest the figs once fully ripe. the trees can bear fruit in two years but sometimes take up to 6

Chookchook2 and louisep2012, Thanks for your posts. I live in Spain, the temps are presently around 35 - 40ºC in the heat of the day. The fir is exposed to the sun for between 3 to 4 hours. The rest of the time it is in shade. The fir is in a large pot on the patio and it would be impossible to thrust my hand down through 15 inches of soil! It is certainly not waterlogged. We changed the pot a week ago as the previous one had broken. There did not appear to be any problems with the roots at that time. The fir was well 'watered in' and apart from the centre, is green, as you will see from the photos attached to my first post. A friend of a friend is a gardening "expert" and has a programme on the local radio. From a verbal description he has guessed that it may be a root problem as an infection would be unlikely in a pot with no other firs about! HIs advice was to prune out all the brown and administer TLC!! with a little water thrown in!! He sadly forecasts a "lingering death"! (I have organised a black tie for the impeding event) Regards, Colin.

We have a fake tree that my husband bought for £20 in the Woolworths closing down sale over a decade ago when our real one shed 90% of its needles within 24 hours of us buying it. This tree has seen us through 2 children and 3 cats; only one of which climbed it as a kitten. It’s thinning and requires lots of fluffing and padding out each year but we love it and it’s covered in ornaments from every year and everywhere.

Are you thinking of placing them either side of the front door? Box trimmed into a spiral look stunning, but they will need trimming every now and then to keep their shape. A standard bay tree will look smart though again it will need trimming ocassionally. Fatsia japonica are beautiful but do rather big. If you want some colour Busy Lizzies (Impatients) have lovely pink or red flowers. They are winter tender but will give a mass of colour during the summer, then you can remove them and plant pansies and cyclamen for the winter. Here’s some pictures - in order Box Spiral, Standard Bay trees, Fatsia and Busy Lizzies.