Country & Garden: NATURE NOTES: LIVING WITH AN ALDER.(Features) From: The Independent (London, England) | Date: March 9, 2002| Author: Marren, Peter | COPYRIGHT 2002 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

AT OTHER times of the year, I hardly know it's there. But in early spring, I am rather forcibly reminded that I share living space with an alder tree. Alder trees are lovely things in their way, with their knobbly twigs and glossy, heart-shaped leaves, and straight trunks rooted in a mixture of soil and water, like soggy coal-slack. It is just that about this time of year they go a bit mad - not that anyone would notice, unless, like me, you happen to live under one.

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