More on the ,Mediterranean

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How depressing it is to learn of Pamela's plant disasters. Every garden is different, which doesn't help !

Two points which might have a bearing : I am reading a marvellous book called "Collapse" by Jared Diamond [collapse as in civilisations: reasons why] and he gives a name to something I have been doing for years and rather thought I had invented ! Called lithic mulch it uses stones as mulch: I quote "they make the soil moister by covering it,  reducing evaporative water loss due to sun and wind, and replacing a hard surface crust of soil that would otherwise promote rain run off. Rocks damp out diurnal fluctuations in soil temperature by absorbing solar heat during the day and releasing it at night; they protect soil against being eroded by splashing droplets......they may also act as slow release fertiliser pills....minerals that gradually become leached out into the soil." This system certainly has worked for me, and the bonus is it saves carting all the stones away ! He goes on to say that the mulched soils end up with double the moisture content, as well as other advantages.

Second point: a local plant supplier told me that the sun, due to changes in the greenhouse effect, will quite literally cook the trunks and leaves of plants. He has noticed it occuring more and more often. He gave my quercus ilex "coats" to protect the trunks at the time of planting, and  i have left them on for the second year [ they were about 3 metres tall at planting]. It seems to have worked......so far.  

Jennifer