My wife and I started gardening in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2003. There was nothing but muddy clayey sloping land. At the beginning we made several structure such as steps and paths, and planted turf, fruit trees, roses, herbs etc.
In 2010, we visited several famous English gardens, including Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Mottisfont Abbey Garden and Hidcote Manor Garden. We were shocked by the glory of those gardens. Since then, we have been trying to make small but glorious gardens by ourselves.
Duranta is a wonderful plant with bright green foliage and many small flowers of purple petals with white margins. In the garden the branches grow to a height of about 2.5 metres. Cut back short in winter.
The passion flower that I have trained to the garden room wall has been in flower since early summer. It wilts in a day and new flowers appear every day. It spreads by underground stems, so I always pull it out as soon as I find it, as it sprouts and vines from unexpected places. This is an invasive plant and needs attention.
At the entrance to the Bluebell garden there is a white lantana in bloom. It is a very pretty flower with clusters of small flowers. Like Snow Goose, the centre of the flower and the stamens are yellow.
Blooming on the lower slopes of the bluebell garden is the ginger lily. Its foliage is spectacular, but its pure white flowers are also gorgeous and have a strong, sweet fragrance. I cut one and arranged it in the room and it filled the room with its fragrance.
We have been growing blueberries for 20 years. For the past 10 years, the harvest has been over 10 kg, and every year from July to August we were busy harvesting and making jam.
In the beginning, the harvest was at its peak in August, but it has gradually become earlier and earlier, so that most of the harvest is now finished in July.
We have therefore looked at the harvesting times for the 10 seasons since 2013 for which records are available. Blueberries are still harvested in July and August, but when we calculated and compared the dates when half of the total yield was harvested, we found some surprising facts. The first picture shows this graphically. In 2013 it was 17 August, but since 2015 half of the crop has been harvested in July, with the earliest harvest date being 12 July last year.
We suspect that this is mainly due to the fact that spring and summer temperatures tend to be higher year after year. Global warming may be causing major changes here too.
In the gardens, the native clematis, Clematis terniflora, which blooms at the end of the summer, has started to flower. Seeds fly here and there and sprout, so I always pull them out when I find them, but sometimes the vines grow out of sight and I don't notice them until after they have flowered. The flowers are pure white with yellow stamens and bloom in clusters of very pretty flowers.
It's now late August and we've started to get a bit of rain. The heat is as intense as ever and I can only work in the garden early in the morning. In the main garden, the chaste trees are in second flower and the beautiful blue-purple colour looks cool. The potato vine is in full flower and has taken over the rose obelisk. The trumpet vine is producing lots of red flowers again. These days I wish autumn would come soon.
The iron arch at the lower entrance to the garden was broken and had to be rebuilt. I also cut down the Jasminum polyanthum that had been trained on the arch.
The gate is now made of wood for a fresh start. The partially unbroken iron arch foundations have been reused.
Welded wire mesh will be extended on both wings of the gate to train vines to it.
The gate was painted in colours similar to the Ukrainian flag.
The main pest on boxwood is the larvae of the boxwood pyralid (Glyphodes perspectalis). Adults lay eggs and larvae feed on the leaves several times from spring to autumn. Most feeding damage occurs on young leaves of newly emerged branches. Severe damage can be avoided if the signs are spotted early and dealt with appropriately.
The first step in pest control is to spot larval infestations early. Damaged leaves are relatively easy to spot. A few young leaves are attached to each other by a thin thread, like spider silk, in which the small caterpillars can be found. When the caterpillars grow a little larger, they move towards the base of the stems and continue feeding in areas that are difficult to see from the surface.
The best way to prevent damage from this caterpillar is to prune young leaves frequently. Adults prefer to lay their eggs on young leaves, so they are less likely to lay eggs if there are no young leaves. If there are signs of feeding damage, it is advisable to prune the young leaves as much as possible.
In addition to this, a biological method of control is possible. This method uses bacteria that are harmful only to certain types of caterpillars, rather than insecticides, and has long been used in agriculture as well as horticulture. It is available commercially in powder form, dissolved in water and sprayed. When the caterpillars eat it, their digestive system is disturbed and they can be destroyed.