2011 − Several Limited Improvements

This page reports the events of 2011. The reports for previous years are appended to "Barum's History".
Thumbnail pictures on this page are for the use of speed-readers, anyone who wants to examine any image in greater detail has only to click on the thumbnail.

Introduction NGS Openings We opened the garden later this year - 28th July, 4th and 11th August, which went very well. The weather was dry for all our openings. The thumbnail gives a view of the top part of the garden in July, Barney considers his inclusion enhances any picture taken in this garden.

Luca at 5 Luca is now 5, and started school in September, how time flies. For his birthday he was taken to London to get acclimatised for his take-over in a few years time.

Meanwhile in the Garden

The Weather

The previous 2 Winters had been bad, but this was different, the early snow in November and December 2010 clobbered a lot of plants that were still growing − causing a lot of damage to the growing tip.
Once the snow melted in early January, the weather was mild and dry. This was followed by the great drought of Spring.
The result was many plants died, some supposedly "hardy", whereas several "tender" plants came through unscathed. The death of plants has dutifully been maintained on this website, viewable via the link on the plant list page.
This, naturally gave the Headgardener the opportunity to introduce changes - most of which involved the Undergardener pain and distress, which is good for him!?

The Summer was fairly dry, but without much sun, the plants loved it, and a most productive year for soft fruit.

The Autumn was very mild, in fact the warmest week of the year was at the end of September / start of October. The first frost held off until mid December. Salvias continued flowering into the new year.

The Front Garden

A Correa 'Marians Marvel' and Chimonanthus praecox were so badly damaged by the winter, that the Headgardener decided to dig them out, they have been replaced by a Sambucus nigra 'Blacklace'.

Near the House

Our Abutilon megapotamicum 'Variegatum' was severely distorted, but reproduced itself during the Summer, by producing a new plant from suckers - this is amazing as I thought suckers would produce a reverted form - non-variegated − but no.

The Top Garden

Acer davidii Out

An Acer davidii had grown lop-sided because it was overshadowed by our Ceonothus 'Trewithen Blue'. This annoyed the Headgardener sufficiently to instruct the Undergardener to remove it. Without any argument, he leapt to the task (must be going senile). This created a space to challenge the planting skills of herself − no problem: a Lomatia myricoides had been languishing in a pot outside the house for since 2006, also several Salvias that had been struck from cuttings. A Clematis texensis 'Gravetye Beauty' had been using the Acer as a climbing post. Where does it grow now? She bodged up a cheap wigwam thing, and expects something better to be done by opening time 2012. The Yellow Variegated shrub on the left is Elaeagnus x ebbingei Gilt Edge, and the more subtly variegated towards the right is Griselinia littoralis 'Variegata'. The thumbnail shows the area just after replanting. Shame "her" wigwam blocks the view of the Lomatia.

The removal of the Acer also exposed the decaying state of the Ceonothus 'Trewithen Blue', which has been a wonderful plant. However, over the last 3 years it has been infected by bracket fungus − don't ask me which one − and suffered a lot of winter die-back. Several branches have been taken off, but now its true condition glares us in the face. The Undergardener has made a decision (normally frowned upon) to remove all the top-growth once it has flowered this Spring (2012). In 2011 it produced a lot of new growth from the trunk, so this may prolong its life, but it will look a lot less ungainly.

New Path

A very cute conifer (Goldcrest) had been planted about 15 years ago - what a stupid idea, she knows what these things do. Anyway, a man with a chainsaw was passing, so he was dragged in and instructed to chop it down to 6ft - stumps are used here for Clematis (saves the Undergardener from having to build even more trellis). Once the debris had been cleared away, the Undergardener was summoned and introduced to her latest plan:

We will rebuild that path - just relocate those rocks to make a retaining wall, there are only 2 weighing more than 200Kg; I will make a bark path, so dig out all the grass round the back of the boat (don't ask why a home-made gazebo is so-called), and make the path edging out of conifer branches; Lay down some membrane, then hump a load of bark chippings down the garden, and spread it flat; Hump that Acer pot - it's only 15inch across, and made of concrete just over there; Once you've finished you may have a gin. I will have two with you and decide where I'm gong to place my new plants in an artistic fashion. The new plants included a white Camellia japonica 'Jurys Yellow'.
	The left image shows the posh new path, and the right image shows the extended bed and some of its planting.

Extend a Bed

An uneven lump of lawn that abutted a narrow bed was the excuse for the bed to be made deeper, and simplified the job of building up the grass dip. The extra area of bed was quickly planted up with a Hydrangea involucrata 'Hortensis' and a Ugni molinae 'Flambeau', just visible in the photo.

The Paved Plant Maze

The Greenhouse bed continues to consider itself too important for this page, it has its own!

Olea europaea

I, like many other around me, got a good clobbering last December.
But look, I am recovering well, albeit I have an asymmetrical shape, which "They" plan to correct next Spring by amputating (without anaesthetic) my top branch. Let's all hope that we have seen the last of these brutal Winters, after all You all stay snug and warm indoors whereas I have to just stand here and take all that the skies throw at me.

Acacia baileyana

Despite our Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea''s brave claims last year (See 2010's report), it did not survive the Winter so it was dug up

Clerodendron tricotomum

What has happened to this wonderful tree. It shrugged off the Winter's freeze. It leafed up well and produced new growth. It produced flower buds. Then, in June after the great drought was over the leaves and buds began to shrivel and drop. We sent pictures and description to the RHS, hoping for advice. They replied that they thought it was a root problem − please send in a sample. There is no way the Undergardener was going to risk accessing a piece of root − he was bound to cause unheard of damage to the Headgardener's planting − great wrath would be cast upon him. So it continued to wither. The plan was to pollard it in the Winter and see if carrying less leaf area will help the poor old thing to cope with the 18 inches of light soil overlaying the great limestone soakaway − there are probably caves down there.

January 2012 update: the Undergardener started to prune it (the Headgardener stays indoors until the temperature exceed 15°C) and found a lot of die-back, extending to the main trunk − it is dead!!

The Veg Patch

Details of our successes in the realms of food production are reported on the veg pages under 2011.

A Question of Seaweed

Last year these pages mentioned about Barum being the grateful recipient of a lorry-load of Seaweed. This proved to be a wonderful decision by the Undergardener − the crops delivered to the kitchen department have been magnificent this season. I won't crow about it, just thought it was worth a mention.

Beyond Civilisation

The Undergardener has spent a lot of effort here this year, culminating in the removal of another scruffy old Conifer. It had grown out of its space, causing the Undergardener to stoop to just get by it.
The space has been used to plant more Spring bulbs (it's a dry / shady area), but more excitement may happen next year. The worry is that this area may soon have to be re-named.

Website Changes

The following additional pages have been added:

• The Plant page has been split into "Plants" and "Dead Plants" pages − they may spread disease!

The following pages have been significantly enhanced:

• The Winter Damage Survey was continued for a third year despite the RHS not continuing beyond 2 years. It will not be continued any longer;
• Daily temperature extremes, Precipitation, Atmosphere and Wind are being taken.

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Last updated:- 11/02/2012