Desiccated citrus

On my previous visit to France I had forgotten to check the batteries in the watering system (the system consists of four separate ares, each controlled by a battery-operated timer). One of the batteries had gone flat whilst I was away; combined with unusually dry spring weather, this led to the drying out of part of the system - including the pots containing the lemon and kumquat trees. When I removed the winter protection from them, I discovered that all the leaves had shrivelled and some of the branches had turned brown. After removing all the dead material they now look very sorry specimens...

My March visit - just over a week - was planned mainly for the purpose of gardening. I managed to clear a couple of areas in the front garden - the beds under our bedroom window, and the one beside the bins - happily discovering while doing so that the wisteria, which we had feared dead, had leaf buds beginning to open. I've started fertilising it and hope it will recover to flower again one day.


The front garden was created from the existing soil on the plot when we bought it, whereas the back garden has been supplemented with better topsoil. Both these beds had been a bit neglected recently, and it's time for an overhaul. The escallonia had once again succumbed to the black spot, so has been cut right back. I need to have a way of identifying each bed rather than having to describe them as, for instance, "the bed under the bedroom window", "the bed up against the front wall" and so on. Maybe a plan with numbers (or compass directions) would be the way? It's something to think about on my next visit.