YOU can understand when there was so much more mystery in the world why mistletoe appeared to be so magical.

Science ruins so much with knowledge.

How much better to believe some mystical power was at work when spheres of Viscum album appeared evergreen on the boughs of apple trees with no apparent roots when the orchards were devoid of leaves.

It was eventually determined that as a partial parasite while photosynthesis sustained it to some extent most nutrition was gleaned from tapping the sap of its host.

Apple and lime trees are the two most popular host trees but it also roots successfully on poplars (have a look at the large number of spheres on the swaying trees at Quarr) and others too.

In nature, the super-sticky fruits are ingested by birds, which then perch on branches and dispense their cargo of seeds which can root in a bark niche, complete with a starter pack of nutrient.

It has been said that a smear of bird poop, mixed in with the sticky berries, is helpful to germination — but it’s not especially desirable, or indeed advisable, in these days of avian flu.

The technique of spreading mistletoe used to involve making a nick in a bough, pushing in the milky fruit and tying sacking over the wound, but that is now not considered necessary.

Berries are on trees now and should be picked and sown when fresh — simply smeared onto a convenient branch.

Mistletoe comes as males or females.

Like holly, only the females carry berries, so it’s a good idea to sow a number of seeds on different trees to be sure you end up with both sexes.

Then it’s a case of keeping fingers crossed for a Christmas kiss — in four, or five years’, time...

  • Mistletoe used to be hacked off trees because it was believed to kill them but modern thinking is that it will only be a contributory factor if a tree is already in serious decline or stressed by drought. Keep it to a single globe per tree, though.

                                                                     TOP TIPS

  • Trim deciduous hedges before the birds start nesting.
  • Top dress fruit bushes with a slow-release, potassium-rich fertiliser to feed plants for the coming season.
  • Lift and divide snowdrops still 'in the green' if you want to move them or create more clumps.
  • Build raised beds now, before the growing season gets underway.
  • Raised beds allow an early start in the garden; the soil warms up faster and the beds drain quickly too, so they’re a great way to deal with heavy soils.
  • Cover outdoor strawberries with cloches to encourage an earlier crop.
  • Order or buy flower bulbs for summer colour, such as lily-of-the-valley and gladioli, in preparation for spring planting.