Gardening Cuttings: Handbook of trees

ALLEN J COOMBES has written a useful identification guide to trees in the series Eyewitness Handbooks published by Dorling Kindersley ( pounds 12.99). He is resident botanist at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum near Winchester, Hampshire. The book covers more than 500 species, and shows in each case the overall habit of the tree in winter and summer, together with photographs of its leaves, flowers and fruit. It is clearly laid out, though would have been even clearer if the publishers had listed each tree under its botanical name rather than its common name.