21st June - 23rd July

With high night and day temperatures this years crop is now mororing away. We were up to 6 watering cycles per 24 hours when the temperatures hit 30 degrees last week and the reservoirs are lowering fast now although there is still plenty of water to last until the end of October.

For all those who came up to hear Tony Kirkham's seminar here at Barcham last week there is plenty of food for thought about the increasing threat of Oak Processionary Moth in the UK so my thanks go to Tony for taking time out to deliver this important information. Keith is off to Chicago this week to glean the latest arboricultural research from the States so more on this to follow.

On the nursery, our standard Hibiscus crop is in bud and will start flowering by August. I saw this planted as an urban tree near Lecce in Southern Italy last year and it makes a fine specimen tree with loads of exotic flower interest in August -September. It remains small with a rounded habit and requires little maintenance. The trick is to purchase them bottom worked rather than top grafted.

We are tweaking the web site again and the changes should be in place by the end of August.  For the professional Arborist, we are introducing 'Keith's Corner'  for him to pass on the latest arboricultural advances via articles, blog and video footage. Keep an eye on our homepage from September onwards!

All the best

Mike