Would that be "The geate a’vallen to"? One of my favorite [and most poignant] William Barnes poems.

https://allpoetry.com/The-Geate-A-Vallen-To 

Probably not. In the zunsheen of our zummers it's hard to remember the recent drought. But my new gate is a good investment, especially on days like today, where previously the wind went over the top and eddied outside, blowing over plants.

I think you've posted this in the past, Roger so thank you again for the reminder.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the rain these past 12 days, and so has the garden by the look of it (less so the wind!). However, it will be nice to get back outside again to enjoy it - Hopefully we get a fair bit of sun and some comfortable temperatures in the low to mid 20's.  

Such a shame. Euonymus japonicus or ilex crenata are the subs we now use. 

Hi Tim. Sorry to hear about your problems with box moths. I began to have a problem in this part of Dorset about four years ago. I used the biological control with some success but for the past two years have used the pheromone traps. I would have replied last night but here are this morning's results in the trap in the front garden. The neighbours have a line of box and I have a few plants too. 

It seems I'm doing the work for the neighbours...

My other box are in the form of hedges which I'm loath to remove because for now, they seem fine. I have a trap here too, but so far touch wood, nothing in this trap this year. One thing I noticed last year is that some birds seem to be picking the caterpillars.

Part of garden hedge just now by the back kitchen door.

Link to the supplier though there are others.

https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/31-box-moth-trap 

Hope you won't give up completely on box.

Nick

Ilex crenata perhaps as a longer term solution.

Unfortunately I was caught unaware of the issue until they arrived on my doorstep, but can see from subsequent research they have been marching up the country for around a decade.

The Big British Garden Survey, a new collaboration between the National Garden Scheme and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).

"Be part of our Big British Garden Survey and help us map the biodiversity in gardens across Britain. With 2.5 million acres of garden their role is vital in supporting the wider biodiversity of plants and animals in the UK."

https://ngs.org.uk/the-big-british-garden-survey 

As much as i dislike the humidity, it resulted in slightly better moisture retention below the layers of mulch I’ve spread across the raised veg beds. 

Heat stress evident amongst the usual suspects but not at critical levels yet. 

Knowing what I know now, if I were starting a new garden I would plant a quince tree and a bullace. Two superb fruits.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/quince/grow-your-own 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullace 

To which I'd add a Fig. Each man and his fig. Not everyone likes figs though. A pomegranate is another contender. Grape vines are easy.

But Quince definitely. Olives are interesting talking points for visitors but the fruits need treatment to make them edible. 

But the Fig is the star this year in my Mediterranean garden.

An entomologist friend once remarked that with climate change we may get a boom in fig pollination in the UK and figs will spread like wildfire here. Figs aren't pollinated in the UK because the specific Blastophaga psenes (fig wasps) required for pollination do not naturally survive the British climate.

Here's a wider fig issue:

Limit global warming for fig tree, wasp survival: British biologist (Interview)

https://earthjournalism.net/stories/limit-global-warming-for-fig-tree-wasp-survival-british-biologist-interview 

I was hoping you'd add a figgy anecdote Roger. Mine is the Ficus carica Brown Turkey.

It's very common for nurseries to label common figs as "self-pollinating" to signal to customers that they don't need a pollination partner for it. But they're actually parthenocarpic. They set and ripen fruit that isn't pollinated at all. The oldest known cultivated plant is a parthenocarpic fig that was first grown at least 11,200 years ago in the Jordan Valley.

We don't have a fig tree but our neighbours do. It overhangs our log shed. This was the tree that prompted my conversation with our entomologist friend. The fruits are not particularly attractive, but many insects here would disagree!

Our lemon tree has been a disappointment for years!  😬

Did you grow it from seed, Roger? I had the same issue with a lemon tree I grew from seed a while back. Apparently, about a third of them don't produce fruit at all. It's something genetic that they inherit.

I bought this mandarin after I was forced to get rid of the lemon. Being a properly grafted one, I'd expect fruit to be a part of it!

I can't remember - but I had a mate who was an expert on polyembryonic citrus seeds for propagation of preferred stock. AI says:

"Polyembryonic citrus seeds contain multiple embryos per seed. One embryo results from pollination and creates a genetically unique hybrid, while the others form asexually from maternal tissue. These extra embryos are clones of the mother tree, meaning you can grow exact genetic replicas that bear identical fruit."

Annoyingly, i did try to change my overall strategy back in 2022 after that particularly dry and hot year. I planted a great number of lavender, salvia and other Mediterranean species but they nearly all died from the damp during the 2023-2024 18 month monsoon.

It feels like you can't win at the minute.

https://ngs.org.uk/gardens/in/lincoln/ 

https://ngs.org.uk/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8r86k3np0o 

At least the reporter got it right with banana plants and not 'banana trees'!