Green Gardening

Yes I subscribe to gardening practices that are mindful of the environment I’m caring for; no herbicides, no insecticides, organic feeds, and not even a layer of weed supressing plastic in the Japanese gravel garden.

But literally speaking, green gardening is the cultivation of plants that are less showy with flower and more ostentatious with foliage. The plants growing here (linked to their page details) are either Chinese or Japanese, creating the aesthetic of a garden of harmony and serenity.

After the Spring flush of young greens, and before the summer’s end reaches a darkening weariness, the foliage of June and July is joyful yet still restful.

Quite often, in acting as foil for colourful blooms, the forms and details of the foliage are invariably overlooked. But the trees, shrubs and perennials here in the Japanesque gravel garden and woodland are primarily foliage featured.

Or they have blooms that blend in rather than shout out their wow factor

So much so that it requires a slow and frequent stroll amongst the plants to stop and admire their individual forms

The Emperor of Japan’s recent state visit to Britain is a timely reminder not only of the accord between our two countries but the similarities of climate which enables a large selection of Japanese plants to thrive here too. Many have been popularised and often hybridised since the days of the Victorian plant hunters to Asia but it is also possible to purchase Japanese species, and more and more I’m tending to source and purchase from such suppliers.