Image from Telegraph shows Chris Hunter measuring to the tip of the fir

The community of Colintraive and Glendaruel has received  a great deal of press attention over the last week or so as it has emerged that the Stronardron Douglas Fir has been crowned Tallest Tree in the UK.

from The Herald:

Mr Creelman, who hails originally from Greenock, says he regards himself more as a custodian of the tree than its legal owner. “When it was planted there was a kind of altruism where somebody plants a tree in 1848 and they are not going to see it in any great form and neither are their children,” he said.

“These days are gone but it’s nice that there are these living memorials. All you can do is look after the tree.”

While the title may seem rather obscure to some, it can be expected to boost tourism in the local area.

However, Mr Creelman is keen to strike a balance between making the tree accessible to the public and destroying the surrounding foliage.

“While we welcome people to come in and see the tree and see the garden, we don’t want to be trampled with people. It has survived there since 1848,” he said.

Reproduced with kind permission from The Herald

As more stories emerge they’ll be posted here:

• Scots fir is ‘tallest tree in UK’ (BBC)
• Trees worth meeting (The Telegraph)
• It’s a tall order measuring the biggest tree in Britain (The Scotsman)
• The tallest tree in the UK… by Fir (The Sun!)
• Douglas Fir in Argyll named tallest tree in Britain (Herald)
• Britain’s tallest tree is 209 ft Douglas Fir (Telegraph)
• The 210ft fir that’s been crowned Britain’s tallest tree – and is still growing (Mail)
• Sparsholt Lecturers Find Tallest Tree (Hampshire Chronicle)
• Is the Tallest Tree in the UK Argyll’s - in Glendaruel? (ForArgyll)
• Views of the Tallest Tree in the UK at Dunans Castle (LairdofDunansCastle.com)
• It’s a YES. Argyll has the tallest tree in the UK - see it from Dunans Castle in Glendaruel (ForArgyll)
• How long will Argyll’s Stronardron Douglas Fir hold on to the ‘UK’s Tallest Tree’ title? (ForArgyll)
• Dunans Castle Views the Tallest Tree in the UK – it’s official! (Dunans Heritage Project)
• Arborist’s to Search for Britain’s Tallest Tree (HortWeek)
• Sparsholt College Lecturers Search for Britain’s Tallest Tree (Sparsholt College)

Now is the time we should be seeing results of all our hard work of the last few months. As usual it does not work out as planned. It seems that my plans have not been the same as the head gardener’s. I planted dahlias where usual plus a few new acquisitions and was foolish enough not to mark where they were. She came along later and planted other things on top. We will have some interesting pairings for the cottage garden image which usually involves planting everything close together to create plenty of colour and hide the weeds. The head gardener decided to plant colourful annuals in large pots. Blue Petunias and pansies with busy lizzie are predominant with begonias and geraniums to come.
Some plantings have failed as usual this time because of the long spell of dry weather. We have a water supply from the hill which is adequate for the house but not for a thirsty garden. The result is that the vegetable seeds have germinated but are still very small. Only cabbages and Brussels sprouts bought as seedlings are thriving along with onion sets and courgettes. We have very few potatoes this season. Our strawberry plants, grown through black polythene, like the dry conditions and are about to produce the best crop ever - if the birds leave them alone.
The rhododendrons have produced a colourful display which is now ending. The greatest surprise has been the blooming of one brought from our Colintraive house as a seedling and is now five feet tall with large white flowers and a wonderful scent. I remember its parent bush but, until this year, did not realise that we had that rarity, a scented rhododendron.
The boundary hedge which I cut back severely during winter is growing away again while allowing better access. I have often advised others never to open a new flower bed, it just makes more work but we needed a dedicated rose bed and so I didn’t follow my own advice. The turf was removed, compost and fertiliser dug in and roses transplanted from elsewhere in the garden.  Unfortunately with the very dry weather three of them have died and I am spending time weeding and trimming the edges of the new plot
The next big event will be the removal of the stand of leylandii at the road end of the garden which will allow in more light and wind.  As we have still to acquire a wood burning stove anyone looking for logs is welcome to take some. Just ask.
Tom Mowat

I associate daffodils in flower with Spring so imagine my surprise when on 29th December I saw daffodils in flower at the Glendaruel Caravan park. Some others have been seen in flower in recent weeks and some of ours may be in flower by early March. But December is ridiculous. Snowdrops were a little late this year and crocus have just started.
Some of our early rhododendrons are in flower and have so far avoided the frost damage which so often spoils them. I saw a rhododendron praecox today and must have one for next year. We had one in our Colintraive garden and the flowers which cover the bush give a wonderful early splash of pale purple.
Frog spawn has appeared as usual late in February and some croaking and splashing is heard as you approach the pond. Our local woodpecker is very busy. I am glad not to have to bang my head on a tree to get food! Apart from the very early daffodils signs of climate change this Spring are few.
Garden plans are changing. Now that roof repairs are finished climbing roses will be grown on the south facing gable again. I have planted Golden showers, Zephirine Drouhin, Dorothy Perkins and an unknown red. It may be rather crowded. A new rose only bed is being prepared  as they do not like competing with other plants. Many small and sickly trees have been dropped and more will follow. I am determined to let in more  light but will leave to the experts the felling of a number of Leylandii which have become too large. What a pity I still have no wood burning stove.
Potatoes have been grown in the same patch for the last two years which means none this year but instead more vegetables. The head gardener gave me a fleece tunnel which may allow an earlier crop of whatever. I may try lettuce, carrots and beetroot. The recent dry spell allowed almost all the garden rubbish to be burnt. A bonfire is a satisfying thing which brings out the wee boy in me. But I am not very good at starting the fire. Instead of creating a good going hot centre I tend to pile on branches as soon as the fire catches which has one result - it goes out! I must learn to be patient.

Tom Mowat

Tom Mowat continues his series of gardening notes. These were written last month since when the weather has caught up

I am puzzled by Global Warming. The climate does seem to be changing. There are no hard winters such as I had when a schoolboy. We always had snow for sledges and slides. Now winters are milder, dull and drizzly. March used to be a dry month in which to complete outside jobs and painting before showery April but has not been so for some years. Spring bulbs are confused. Snowdrops used to flower in January but are still in flower and crocuses are out with the daffodils and even some tulips. Frog spawn which usually appears in February did not arrive till early March.
The steady daily rain has left the soil saturated. Farmers are unable to till sodden fields and await a frost before spreading slurry without compressing the soil. Same for the gardener who can’t prepare a wet vegetable patch. But be patient; the ground will dry eventually and warm up for planting. Many vegetables can be started in trays in the greenhouse or window ledge and transplanted later and potatoes can be sprouted. I have purchased dahlias to add to last year’s collection which have over- wintered in the shed, and several new herbaceous plants which I hope like it here. Those that don’t like this garden don’t survive and it is pointless trying again. I have now given up on pampas grass which I know some people don’t like but it can fill a corner gracefully
We had an interesting talk at the February Fellowship, from Mr Topliss from Cairndow on the Argyllshire garden when he listed trees and ornamental shrubs happy in our climate. The selection of birch, hawthorn, rowan and maple is very wide and he even suggested the dreaded ponticum as a shelter hedge. I must fit in a visit to Cairndow soon.
Since building a compost heap in the garden for the kitchen waste, we have had fewer mice in the house but there are plenty in the compost heap! The red squirrel which regularly raided our bird nuts in past winters has not visited this year and we wonder what has happened to it. Six months ago I heard noises in our loft space which I thought at the time could be our bat colony or a noisy mouse but I now wonder if it could have been a squirrel. The presence of a few bird nuts, too big for a mouse to carry, among the loft insulation seems to confirm that a squirrel has been there. But is it still there? Time will tell.

Walking the dogs down the west Glen road t’other day, I came upon a middle aged couple, more Bearsden than Govan, with a 4WD. She, blue rinse and green wellies, was packing primroses into those black plastic trays you see in garden centres. He, no stranger to a fish supper, was digging new supplies from the banking.
‘That’s not quite legal.’ says I, more mischief than indignation.
‘George!’ squeaks blue rinse, as if threatened with rape.
George slides down the banking, shedding dignity and gaining rage. He faced up to me and gave a remarkably accurate description of my parents’ nuptials. However, he had reckoned without our labrador with the sawn off legs.
Moffat curled his lip and gave a growl of sufficient adrenaline to even convince our oh so soft retriever to join in. A scrabble for the car. Slam, slam, engine’s roar, tyres’ screech and they were gone, leaving behind the half filled trays and stolen primrose plants. I walked the dogs home and returned by car to collect the plants. Too late, they had found the courage to return, collect booty and flee. Sods!

Michael Kaufmann