They come in all sizes, they blossom and you can eat their delicious fruit straight off the tree

On the other side of my village is an apple farm, and every year I wait eagerly for their sandwich board to appear, announcing the arrival of apple season. I’ll happily eat two apples a day until they put the sign back in the barn until the following autumn.

A really great apple brings me an inordinate amount of joy – and the best apples I’ve ever eaten were picked right off the tree. So, if you’re looking for a gift for the hard-to-buy-for gardener in your life, an apple tree is a wonderful choice.