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.
The steel shed in the main garden has been in use for just over 20 years, with fake windows (covered with plastic mirrors), but years of moisture had caused corrosion, mainly on the floor, and recently the sliding doors had stopped working properly. So we decided to buy a new shed and after a lot of research we decided on a gable roof design. With the help of my son, the demolition of the old shed was easily completed and a concrete foundation was built for the next shed. The concrete foundation was made by placing instant concrete flat inside the formwork and pouring water over the top. Welded wire mesh was placed inside to strengthen it.
A large cardboard box containing an assembled shed ordered online was delivered, but it weighed 60 kg and didn't budge. We carried the necessary parts little by little into the garden and assembled them, following the assembly instructions. Again, my son helped me. It took two of us half a day to complete it.
I felt that the design was not good enough as it was, so I looked at photos of sheds in the UK and found that they had diamond-shaped roof ornaments, so I decided to make my own and install them. I attached a board of the same colour to the gable, and at the top of the centre I added a slightly deformed diamond-shaped roof ornament.
Fake windows on the storage shed were made eight years ago. They were badly damaged and difficult to repair. So we decided to make new windows.
I removed the old fake windows and affixed the new plastic mirrors. Then newly designed frames were made with white aluminium tape. Design quality is better than before.
We grow climbing rose 'Cocktail' on both sides of the front of the Potager's She Shed (Maiden's Room). The branches that used to be trained up to the roof are now pruned low as part of the change to a sustainable garden for us. This rose produces new branches and flowers several times a year, and is starting to sprout, bud and flower again, even in this heat wave. The ground is dry because of the hot days (some time over 38°C) and the lack of rainfall. Even so, the roses are still flowering in good health. We hope that the roses will give us energy to get through this summer.
Climbing roses in the potager, 'Cocktail', are looking good right now . They have been planted on both sides of the She-shed for nearly ten years. It is a little susceptible to black spot disease and loses its leaves a couple of times a year, but then it comes back and flowers a lot. It does not seem to grow more than 3 metres.
The She-shed is located at the far end of the Potager . Originally used as a storage room for garden work, it was converted into the She-shed in 2018. The ceiling was covered with floral fabric and a chandelier was added. A lovely table and chaise longue were placed in the room to create a calm and relaxing space. As the She-shed, it is for women only. Poirot only comes in for repairs when there is a problem. Today he was allowed in specially for the filming.
It is raining today.
We had no visitor yesterday and nobody will come today.
However, many people visit our blog,
and we are ready to show our gardens by posting photographs and video clips.
I took many photos and videos yesterday in the potager.
