[Dreich Pete]

One hard frost at just the wrong time will kill off the fruiting process for the year. I'm more than a little worried that my plot won't be quite suitable, and only having one mild,wet winter under our belts isn't going to help work it out. Our neighbours just gave us horror stories of how bad the winter can be locally, but also said they hadn't been properly snowed-in for years, and the variety of healthy plants in their garden implies a rather healthy climate. We shall see.

The tree guards and straps arrived this morning but the straps aren't long enough. Silly me for not even checking what size I would need.they would barely fit around the stakes, let alone stake, tree and small gap. They're the soft rubber ones with a spacer to prevent the tree rubbing on the stake.

Talking of stakes, I think I'll pop out to the saw mill and buy mine today. We have excellent sunny weather and it's not too cold to be busy outside.

[shygirl]

im near Peterhead, are you inland?
we get plenty of apples, and all fruit bushes. plums are no bother but no huge crops. raspberries are excellent.
its been very very mild this year. going back 4 years we had snow for 3 months solid.

[Dreich Pete]

Edzell area. At the foot of the last of the Cairngorm national park so we seem to get the edge of the hills weather. I sometimes watch it blow past a few miles away. Usually a bit of a breeze which at least keeps the frosts away.

[shygirl]

did you have a mild winter?
I heard there was lots of snow by the cairngorms this year. itl be a lot harsher by you than us then.

[Dreich Pete]

This low down we had to be satisfied with seeing the snow on the hills a few miles away. It's been mostly wet, very wet.