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.
A slightly larger space was created in the middle of the main garden and a white iron garden bench was placed on a small terrace. It has been aged to look a little rusty and old.
It only gets sun for short periods in the afternoon, so it may not be used much in winter, but in spring, early summer and autumn, depending on the weather, it can be a pleasant place to be.
Ten years ago, I planted a Christmas holly saplings on the south side of the jasmine fence. It has grown to about 2 meters in height. Last year it produced a lot of red berries, but this year, perhaps in reaction to that, there are almost no berries on it.
The Christmas holly is on a slope, so when pruning it, it is hard to reach from the bottom and far from the top because of the fence in between. So I decided to lower the height to about 1.2 meters to make pruning easier.
As part of our efforts to transform the garden into a sustainable garden for those of us who are among the elderly, we began a project in January of this year to remove the central flower bed (an island-shaped raised bed) in the middle of the main garden and create a larger area for people to gather.
We transplanted or potted up the flowering trees and plants that were in the flower bed, relocated the homemade aluminum obelisk, and tore down the brick raised bed frame.
After a long, hot summer, work was halted and resumed in October when the weather cooled down.
This month, stone slabs (made of concrete and used as paving stones for the garden path) were reused to create a terrace. Finally, artificial turf was laid to complete the project.
In December, the blueberries usually begin to turn their leaves a little red each year. This year, the leaves are turning red, though it seems to be a little late. The leaves will fall off by the end of January, sprout in March, and produce many small bell-shaped flowers again.
On the lower slope from the bluebell garden, white lantana, reddish purple small lantana, and Lemmon's marigold are blooming now. The lantana has been blooming all summer and now. Small lantana blooms mostly in the spring and autumn, with the greatest number of blooms in autumn. Lemｍon's marigolds bloom from November to January.
Looking down from the bluebell garden, you can see the potager. Ms. Marple is working in the garden.
The harvest of mini-tomatoes growing in one of the pentagonal raised beds was over, and the raised bed was empty, so we planted cabbage and other seedlings to be harvested in the spring. Since we still have occasional warm days and insect control is essential, I assembled a new frame for insect netting and covered it with black netting.
