July 2010 « Tsubo-en Zen-garden diary

Bamboo runner alert

In my post Bamboo shoots in unexpected places this subject was briefly addressed. Today I will go into more detail and show you the impact of not taking, or not taking sufficient measures, to restrict bamboo in its abundant expansion. Even when the correct measures are taken one still needs to frequently check for […]

Weeds, leafs and more

This is a post about gardening activities that must be and are performed on a regular basis, year round. Under the denominator “Bottom surface maintenance” we have brought together a whole list of activities. A number of these are very specific, like for example Gravel area’s and Keeping the groundcovers out of the gravel. […]

Powdery Mildew on our Euonymus Japonicus

We are used to a few annual attacks of plant louse (greenfly) against or Euonymus Japonicus “Compactus” (Japanese Spindle) next to the terrace in the main garden. Mildew we have had only once or twice before. And now it is fully covered by it and hence we identified it as Powdery Mildew (fungi in […]

Timing for box-topiary trimming

Clipping the box (buxus) topiary karikomi, o-karikomi and hako-zukuri, is probably more time critical and weather dependent, than any other clipping or pruning. Trimming the box (buxus) topiary karikomi, o-karikomi and hako-zukuri, involves cutting back the fresh new growth. When and how often this needs to be done very much depends on where you […]

Larix (Europeaus) decidua, fukinaoshi-pruning

We prune our Larix (Larch) for shape. This pruning is part of a long running fukinaoshi treatment and entails pruning for shape and applies to most of our tall trees. We started this activity in 2008, after I got hold of the book “Niwaki” by Jake Hobson. I will later write a book review […]

Insecticide, second or third annual overall treatment

Depending on the weather conditions and plant growth in the garden we have a first preventive spraying round in mid-April. Sometimes one or two weeks earlier other years one or two weeks later but that is the schedule. Depending on how serious the problems are and how effective the first treatment was, e.g. was […]

Karikomi style Prunus lusitanica, pruning for shape and growth

Although rather distant, this object is part of the Mountain-range structure at the other site of Mount Sumeru and a visual part of the O-karikomi style Prunus lusitanica element discussed in the earlier post. This Karikomi (Prunus lusitanica, common name Portugal laurel) is part of a mountain-scape formed by it and the O-karikomi to […]

O-karikomi style Prunus lusitanica, pruning for shape

This topiary, representing a mountain-range or a mountain-scape, gets pruned and clipped in the so called Karikomi style (see: Karikomi and hako-zukuri, topiary technique of clipping shrubs and trees into large curved shapes or sculptures). As indicated above the “o” prefix in O-karikomi means “large” and it refers to the use of groups of […]

Birdlife in the garden

“Cosmos, the endless cycle of live and death.” Lao Tzu in Tao Te Ching This week we saw a diversity of high- and low-lights in the life of birds in our garden. Here we give a quick impression of a few. One of our great enjoyments in the garden is a mutual joy, for hundreds […]

Ulmus parvifolia, Elm-tree prunning

At the left side of our Tsukubai in the front garden grows the Ulmus parvifolia “seijn” (elm, top of photo). It is trained in the “twins” (sokanshitate) style. The robust trunk has a very thick flacking cork-like bark even when the tree is very young. This in combination with the very small leathery, lustrous […]