Matthew's March, so-called because it marches with the edge of my neighbour, Matthew's, land, is characterised by the line of the purple-leaved cherry (Prunus cerasifera 'Passardii Nigra') which was planted in the 1950s as can be seen on the bottom left of the old aerial photograph on the History page. There are also some old flowering plants remaining from that time such as an early flowering pink Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica), various sweet-smelling mock orange plants (Philadelphus varieties), as well as a not often seen ironwood/ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor) with its plumes of white flowers in summer. Unfortunately the old rowans and whitebeams (Sorbus species and varieties) planted along the edge of the garden to make an avenue are well past their sell-by date. Some have died and the rest are senescent. I have planted a few new rowans in available spaces including yellow-berried Sorbus aucuparia 'Joseph Rock' and pink-berried Sorbus hupehensis.

The Mount is a rather grand name for a small hillock, which was, as elsewhere, very neglected and overgrown when I got here, but some of the early planting from the middle of the last century still remain. There are two weeping birches (Betula pendula 'Youngii'), one of which isn't so vigorous as it is completely surrounded by a couple of very large, late pink-flowering rhododendrons and there is a small copse of quite droopy mature Norway spruce (Picea abies). Only three old flowering plants date from the same time: a wonderfully gnarled specimen of Laburnum anygrioides, a clumo of (rather peely wally) pink flowered lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) and a deciduous Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii ) now beginning to be lost among the bamboos. The area of the Mount facing the riverside to the east is home to self-seeded silver birches (Betula pendula) and sessile oaks (Quercus petraea), as well as a more spruce which obscure the view of Crofthead Hill in summer. The image shows the Mount in 2008 from  the Amphitheatre.

Other flowering shrubs consist of a group of pearl bushes (Exochorda macrantha 'The Bride'), a Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa) and Eucryphia x nymansensis. The tulip tree (Liriodendendron tulipifera) and a snowbell (Styrax obassia) have yet to flower. A number of maples (Acer campestre, griseom and micranthum give lowely autumn colour, while a collection of conifers provide winter structure and necessary protection from the high winds that belt north along this stretch of Moffat Dale. Notable among these are a Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), an eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and a sky-rocketing Douglas fir (Menziesia douglasii). There are also two specimens of the deciduous conifer, the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides).

There are plenty of other trees and shrubs in this area: a number of Eucalyptus (perriniana, pauciflora subsp. debeuzevillei, gunnii and parvula) wich are getting large and look tremendous especially in winter. Other trees include a Chines red birch (Betula albo-sinensis) grown from seed; Korean fir (Abies koreana). sugar maple Acer saccharinum; and Antactic southern beech (Nothofagus antarctica).