Midsummer Shade from the High Pergola

Clive pruned the grapevine over the High Pergola today.  Temperatures are climbing, with expected maximums approaching forty degrees this week.

The evaporative cooling effect of the leafy canopy helps drop the temperature in the area adjoining the house and by leaving the small high windows open we aim to encourage the flow of air through the house without allowing heated air in.

Unfortunately the other grape vines on the pergola on the western face of the bedroom wing were killed last year by borers, so we now need to reassess that area.  We are thinking that a combination of shadecloth, plus wisteria and grape vine in certain areas may be the solution. 

Getting Busy

Wendel and Kathy Judd spent some time here this week staying in the (not quite finished) guest room.

The sixty square metre self-contained guest room, with its awesome valley views from the  balcony, a bathroom and living area,  is proving to be quite a hit. It is very satisfying to see that it is getting used with increasing frequency, with more visitors turning up here all the time.

Like many people from city, Wendel and Kathy are thinking of buying a rural property in the region, where they would focus on restoring the land to tip top condition and offsetting their carbon footprint by undertaking a programme of tree plantings in the coming years.   If you would like to calculate your personal carbon footprint you could use the Carbon Offset Calculator at http://www.carbonconscious.com.au 

Pollarding? Will we or wont we?

Pollarding is a technique in which the heads of main branches are cut back to promote a more bushy growth of foliage. This helps to maintain the tree's size and shape while encouraging dense, vigorous growth. With annual attention, trees can be maintained at a specific height for centuries. Pollarding of trees is not common in Australian gardens.  But then neither were clipped box hedges until relatively recently.  Or olive trees in tubs. Look at these pollarded London Plane trees at the Filoli estate in California.  I love the sculptural qualities of these. They are both elegant and practical, allowing winter sun to flood through whilst providing deep pools of summer shade.

The London Plane planted five years ago to shade the Wine Cellar at The Drip is now nearing the size where we should consider whether to commence pollarding.  But does pollarding a tree add yet another high maintainence element to the overall garden design?  

I figure that it is roughly three hours work once a year to achieve this.  And surely that is  a worthwhile investment of time to gain high visual impact and effective shade provision in these increasingly hot summers?.

Resurrection

Peter and Jay have been busy in the cottage garden  getting things back in order after  record rainfall, floods, explosions of weeds, snakes and a general crappiness that overtook everything  over the past few months.

This has prompted us to rethink the design of the old cottage garden to make it more sustainable in the future.  Clive has come up with an excellent solution.

The original design, typical of the 1870 gold-rush gardens of  Gulgong , as described in Trevor Nottle's book which we have here in the Library, is historically significant . We will keep some elements such as the quartz edgings but move the garden on into the twenty first century with a more spacious and elegant layout,  gravel mulches and appropriate and tough plantings such as the day lilies and poppies.

 

A New Year and a New Website too

Kim and Jenny McClymont spent New Year here at The Drip, staying in the almost finished  upstairs guest room. Not only did Kim continue work on the dam he designed to slow  the waterflow, trapping silt and flood debris and thus easing erosion in the gully but he also made  another suggestion based on his experience in management with the NSW National Parks service.

As a result of Kim's input  we are now working on a new website which will  be the Standard Operating Procedures for The Drip.  There is a lot of stuff going on here and having a manual like this will be so helpful, not just for us but especially for guests who are not familiar with the in s and outs of life in the country.  The website will include relevant photos, maps, diagrams, plans, useful links etc.

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The  online manual will not be accessible to the general public but  will be limited exclusively to password holders.  Family and friends with access to the site will be able to update the content, contributing to the development of  the operating manual and,  as we now are getting more and more visitors here, people will also be able to use an online calendar to check accommodation availability and  book times that they would like to stay at The Drip.

What's Blooming This Week?

Suzanne Creighton bought a small NSW Christmas Bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum) from one of the local Mudgee nurseries while she was visiting from London.

Christmas Bush grows in open forest and rainforest of New South Wales, generally east of the Great Dividing Range and is common in Sydney sandstone areas.

Suzanne's bush has been planted in a sheltered spot in the The Gully Garden and if it does well in this location then more will be added as time goes by, making this area a highlight of the festive season.

This is the Christmas Tree that Ben planted here  on Christmas Day 2005.  It was very, very small then.

The tree is at the head of the Main Axis that runs through the very centre of the Big House at The Drip, Mudgee.

One day Ben will be able to sit under the shade of this Christmas Tree here at The Drip and survey the valley below.  And he will remember the times he spent here as a boy.