The trees that are as fine to eat as they are to look at

As regular readers will be aware, I am a huge fan of perennial edibles. So often, their leaves, fruit, flowers, buds or roots are not only as delicious as annuals, but they’re easier to come by, thanks to the plant being typically more resilient to the vagaries of the British climate and its pests and diseases.

That said, flavour is the king: perennial or not, you’ll not find me recommending anything that’s less than a culinary pleasure. Tree leaves, for instance, might best demonstrate where the crucial line between edible and palatable is drawn. I wouldn’t bother with most and although beech and maple are two of the many whose leaves can be eaten — and are pretty good if you catch them young — there are only a few trees I would especially encourage you towards considering for your precious garden space.

Mulberries (Morus) come in red, white and black varieties and, although leaves from all are edible — and never less than very good in my experience — it is the white mulberry (Morus alba) and its hybrids — such as ‘Carmen’ — that are the best. There are small variations in flavour between cultivars, but it is the texture of white varieties that gives them the edge.

Mulberries come into leaf later than most trees, famously giving the gardener the nod that the frosts are probably over, so expect to pick leaves from late May until the first few frosts cause the leaves to drop. I’ve long nibbled the occasional leaf when in the garden, but, having discovered that the leaves can be used as you might vine leaves — as wraps for dolmades and other kitchen delights — I’ve harvested many more through the season: they are now as common in my kitchen as is chard in the summer months.

A few years ago, I planted a toon (Toona sinensis) in the garden and was slightly bemused by the way its leaves evolved — in a reversal of the behaviour you’d expect in an ailing plant — from a lively salmon-pink colour in spring, turning cream-yellow before becoming a bold green for summer. The flavour of the leaves is a particular one of vegetable stock, including the classic garlic and onion combination, and, as well as being superb cooked, the young leaves are excellent punctuators in a leafy salad. You can also dry them to use as stock powder, which is apparently very good, but I have yet to try it. Add them to your harvests and be in the company of many cultures — including that of China — where they are widely eaten.

Other than the time — my mother reminds me — that I ate a few beech leaves as a six year old, the first tree leaves I tried were from the row of small-leaved limes (Tilia cordata) that I planted at the smallholding where I used to live. Sweet, succulent and nutty, they were easy to like and have had me going back for more every spring. All lime leaves are edible and similar in flavour, but it is the youngest leaves of the small-leaved lime that have the giving texture that makes them so appealing. I use most of those I harvest for mixed-leaf salads, as their presence next to other leaves really shows them at the best.

I grow these three in my garden and use only small quantities, harvested repeatedly through the season, so I am not depleting the trees as they grow, but I am considering coppicing or pollarding a white mulberry and a toon at about 3ft high to provide a more substantial harvest of young leaves each year; both are vigorous growers and can perfectly well stand this annual treatment. Happily, there are plenty of lime trees in my town — and likely near where you live — to be able to turn to a little foraging if your garden isn’t suitable for a tree, as they are typically large when mature.

As well as the pleasure of the trees and their delicious leaves — and fruit in the case of the mulberry — it is worth mentioning that many tree leaves are highly nutritious. Typically rich in vitamins and important trace elements such as calcium, zinc, vitamin C and iron, some — notably mulberries — are especially high in protein, being more protein-rich even than spinach.

Mark Diacono grows edibles, both usual and unusual, at Otter Farm in Devon. His book, 'Abundance: eating and living with the seasons' is out now (Quadrille, £30).