woodland – My Japanesque Garden

It is cold enough for rain to coagulate and fall in heavy drops. ~ Joyce Peseroff: “April to May”

By April every gardener is a hopeful weather watcher but this year it has mostly continued in a wintry vein of many wet days and cool temperatures. Last week there was overnight air frost and even as the month begins to close, temperatures are due to fall back to single figures. As a consequence the emerging blossom on the miniature Conference pear blackened off and the vegetable garden is still mostly bare and broody.

And since I’m looking at the bleaker side there have been one or two shrubs that have died off over winter. Most surprisingly is the small, willow boundary hedge on the west side of the garden and as this holds some rather friable, downhill soil in place, I’ve left the roots in place and will re-shrub here again either with willow or a privet.

^{dead willow hedge beside the marsh garden}

Sadly both hydrangea ‘Miss Saori‘ and Daphne ‘Marianni‘ have not resurrected though I’m not certain that this winter is the culprit. In March last year I’d brought them up from Cornwall and planted them out. This was too hasty a decision really as not only is there a temperature difference between there and here in Derbyshire but snow soon followed [see post Back and Forth]. Chances are they did not have time to make enough root.

Last year’s toad and his mate have not returned to the pond this April but since builder buddy and I have just been working on putting all the complex electronics in place for a cascade it’s not all that surprising (though such activity would not normally deter an amorous toad). All that’s needed now is a 12V battery to power the pump as well as sun for the solar panels to keep it charged. Meanwhile the pond plants are thriving and should eventually disguise the pipe work, whilst the overflow is not wasted but now runs through a French drain into the marsh garden.

With some extra muscle help, I’ve moved the Blush Noisette rose urn to the Japanesque garden midway trellis as it needs more sun than the Potted Cottage front garden can muster. Moreover, the understated clusters of small, fragrant blooms, suit the aesthetic of the garden.

^{rose urn at the midway trellis in the Japanesque garden}

And as can be seen in the photo above, despite the mostly dire weather there have been the occasional sunny days which have brought out the Spring foliage on the Japanese hostas, acers, pieris and spireas.

I am fortunate to have a small woodland garden at the far end and Spring is the best time to enjoy the native plants and trees. There are several clumps of lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) just starting to flower which I inherited with the garden and had quite a job digging out and transplanting to the woodland. These are rather thuggish little plants and are really best suited to wilder areas.

I’ve been enjoying the shelter of the greenhouse this month and as a consequence have been sowing more seeds than usual, just for something to do in inclement weather. So the seed diary is filling up and already I have given away 10 young Pompom dahlia plants that I first sowed back in January on a windowsill. And what better way to end this April’s blog post than on a positive note!

“No rain, no flowers. ” ― Haruki Murakami

For the most part, April has, to date, more or less continued the cool and intermittent wet weather of its predecessor . Even so, there’s been time enough to plant all the Acer trees and a selection of shrubs, thus the character of the top garden is now becoming distinctly Japanesque.

Firstly though it was necessary to test the soil and given the notable seams of clay here, it was no surprise that the PH registered as neutral to moderate alkaline, with some traces of acidity towards the woodland.

Clay soils hold nutrients bound to the clay minerals and also a high proportion of water and so drain slowly as well as take longer to warm up in spring. The particles tend to clod together and hence create heavier soil.

For 20+ years, the Japanese maples grew up in pots of JI#2 and two of them now have their roots in the earth. However, they do prefer to be planted in slightly more acid soil and since Acer Seiryu is growing alongside other acid lovers (Pieris japonica, Azalea Irohayama) in the Japanese woodland bed, I shall have to start adding suitable soil acidifiers including elemental garden sulphur, as well as coffee grounds, organic mulches and leaf mould.

^{Acer Sei_ryu in the he Japanese woodland bed}

A PH soil change is a slow process and meanwhile any reduced availability of phosphorus, iron and manganese in less acid soils will probably lead to lime-induced chlorosis (yellowing leaves) requiring a remedy of chelated iron. Feeding with an ericaceous plant tonic will also add these vital minerals.

I’m pleased to say that all three shrubbery beds (‘First‘, ‘Second‘ and ‘Far sight‘) of the top garden are now almost complete in terms of structure and include evergreens alongside deciduous plants that will provide flower, foliage and scent across the seasons.

A square lattice trellis now frames the ‘Far Sight‘ bed, screening it off from the greenhouse behind. I’m planning to grow a semi-evergreen Japanese clematis (Alba Plena) over it as companion for the Chinese jasmine nudiflorum just planted here.

^{Preparing the ‘Far Sight‘ bed for Acer Trompenburg}

Into this bed I’ve placed a few large stones as backdrop for two deciduous Spirea japonicas (Halward’s Silver & Shirobana) as well as making a front edge to separate off the future gravelled surface. The red leaved Acer Trompenburg is the centre piece here.

A number of plants are to remain in containers – to be moved in and out of focus according to the seasons. Just putting their snouts above the soil, the Japanese hostas; ‘Katsuragawa Beni’, longipes f. hypoglauca, Hosta ‘Ki Ren Jyaku. are growing in the shadow of the Teahouse gazebo, adjacent to my qigong paved platform. The enormous Empress Wu hosta desperately required dividing (half given to Builder Buddy as token thanks for his further work on the Teahouse). That hosta is now sharing a large square container with the white forsythia.

Although still a work in progress, the garden is what I’d hoped for back in the Autumn of 2020 when I first considered this overgrown, dilapidated plot as somewhere for my plants (and me) to put down roots!

A scrolling view of the Japanese garden in April:

‘First Sight’ bed with Osmanthus in foreground
fragrant blooms of Osmanthus greet the visitor
The ‘evil eye’ stone guards the entrance to the garden
shrubs in the ‘Second Sight’ bed
with hydrangea ‘Kiyosumi’ in new spring foliage
featured plants at partway trellis partition slowing the journey through the garden
The ‘Far Sight’ bed complete with trellis, shrubs and stones
Moog as size reference for the stones
Stone and spirea
Acer Trompenburg just starting to leaf
ironstone is native to this region (all dug up from the garden)
a lovely mossy stone borders the Far Sight bed
and a place for the small ‘zen priest’ stone I found on a beach many years ago
first of the Conference pear blossom in the Fruit garden