Country diary: Caught in a web of late winter branches | Elizabeth-Jane Burnett

Kew Gardens, London: Before these wonderful trees are graced once more with spring leaves, we must appreciate their shadow portraitsBefore the deciduous trees come into leaf, walking underneath them is dizzying. It is like moving through a large, deconstructed nest - one that expands from tree to tree. Without leaves, the nest is airy and flooded with light, made from whole branches and lined with the sky.The trees lose some of their familiarity when leaves do not reveal their names, and it is their silhouettes that speak. A crown of fine twigs reveals a beech. The horse chestnut's branches, upturned at the ends, hang like chandeliers. There is something intimate about moving through these shadow portraits, seeing a level of exposure that is not, for most of the year, available. There is an invitation to drift under all this uplift, to trace new pathways through wooden cobwebs. Continue reading...