QUESTION

MY TEN-YEAR-OLD son has grown two tiny oak seedlings from acorns he collected last year. They’re in plastic plant pots in the garden. How fast will they grow. Is there any way he can keep them small?

Mr H. Knowles, Wiltshire.

If They’re allowed to grow naturally, these two seedlings would become enormous trees and live for several centuries. So here are two options, to enable your son to watch them grow.

The first is to keep them in containers, potting up to larger ones each winter. When they become too large to manage, he could offer them to a wildlife charity such as the Woodland Trust.

Another good option is to grow them as bonsai plants. That way, they could be healthy for decades but stay small. for details, go to the bonsai page at rhs.org.uk.