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.
About ten years ago, I erected a fence along the eastern boundary of our garden, separating it from the neighbouring property. I used louvre fence panels to block sightlines while allowing air to pass through. This year, those panels began rotting and breaking, so I replaced them with new ones. This time, I opted for durable artificial wood. I expect this will last for quite some time. For details, please see the YouTube video.
The strong cold wave has continued for several days, with snow flurries every day. Fortunately there is very little snow on the ground in our area, so there are no problems with traffic and so on. However, it is very cold with high temperatures of around 5°C and a strong northerly wind, so it is very difficult to work in the garden.
In the narrow garden next to the house where the white wooden fence was demolished, the iron pipes that had been erected as fence posts were painted a new colour. The pipes had been used as frames for kiwi shelves before the fence was built and had been painted a light brown colour like bamboo, but as this was where the white fence had been, they were repainted white.
Welded wire mesh will be installed on these posts to train the clibming roses 'Mary Delaney' and 'The Pilgrim', which are located here.
The pathways have been cleared and covered with artificial grass. It looks tidy and weeding will be minimal.
The white wooden fence that I built myself in 2011 has been painted and partially repaired, but overall the boards have decayed and I decided to remove it.
The posts had incorporated iron pipes fixed to a concrete block foundation. We decided not to remove this iron pipe but to leave it for rose training.
The fence was removed in order starting from the south side. It looks like a completely different place when it is gone.
We are now going to transform this part of the garden into a new sustainable garden.
The white wooden fence has been in place for 14 years and the boards have decayed considerably. We considered major repairs but decided against it due to the size of the workload and decided to tear it down. This is another example of sustainability for us.
The roses in the garden will be pruned sequentially in the winter, and the clibing roses by the fence were the first to be pruned in preparation for the fence's removal.
The pruned branches of Mary Delaney had flowers and buds on them, and the buds bloomed beautifully when I put them in a vase and placed them in a warm room. The cloudy winter weather in northern Kyushu is depressing, but the beautiful pink roses brightened up the room.
First, concrete blocks were cemented into the ground.
The iron pipe was then cemented into the hole in the concrete block. I used a level to set it up vertically. And I painted the steel pipe with dark brown paint.
I made the white picket fence at the upper entrance of our garden in 2011,
and painted it every two or three years.
Paint has come off and some pickets have damaged considerably by rotting,
and I replaced one picket and painted whole of the fence today.
We are opening our garden on 11th and 12th April.
This is the first time we open in April.
We are looking forward to welcoming visitors,
and we wish the prevalence of the COVID-19 ends soon.
Hibiscus mutabilis is bearing pink flowers at the white wooden fence.
Today I introduce another pink flowers of cuphea just beside the hibiscus.
Flowers of cuphea are quite small and cute.
It continues to flower for a long period, and is one of my favorites.
