The Ogura Mansion: September 2012

As I'm sure most of you know, Kyushu was hit with some of the worst rain ever this year. Not only did the traditional rainy season deliver more rain than ever recorded before, but the rain continued throughout summer, finishing up with a couple of wild old typhoon-esque downpours. So, it has been with some relief that we now feel the cool turn of autumn. The weather is so beautiful right now, with sunny, clear days and the autumn colours starting to appear.

Our garden too has been both booming and suffering in the summer conditions. Some plants have hated having their feet so wet, while others - especially the weeds - have loved it. Almost everything has grown like it's on some kind of Chemical X, though, and bit by bit the garden is taking shape.

There's so much more to do though! Now that it's autumn, I will be focusing on the car parking area. You might remember a few months ago we had some terracing and retaining walls made (luckily before the rainy season, otherwise me might not have a house anymore!). The retaining wall around the parking has stayed as is, but this month, I'll be staining the wood, getting a truck load of dirt delivered and planting a garden there. I'm looking forward to it, because that's really what we see out of our tatami room window, as well as our living room window. So manky right now!

Well, below is a mini photo essay of the life of the garden until a few months ago. I might get out tomorrow and take a pic of the tomatoes that have taken over. In a couple of weeks they will all be coming out, and I'll compost them back through the soil, ready to create the new garden. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but the fun is in the planning and plotting!

Until next time...Willie

You can see why I didn't bother planting much in November. This was the garden in January.

This is what the view from the deck looked like in January with no snow, or thereabouts.

And after the rainy season. I haven't done much with this side of the land, except for painting the wall and making the garden beds in front there. More trees have gone in since, and more rocks have been dug up, so this looks a lot messier now! But, of course, it's a work in progress and will hopefully look much better this time next year. The wooden wall around the parking (right) is the next project. Watch this space!

Our massive problem with the mound at the front of our house had to be fixed with terracing. It was really important this was done before rainy season, and little did we know what kind of rainy season we would be in for!


This was taken a couple of months ago, just after I planted the Rose of Sharon tree (top left). Everything has grown a lot since then, especially the tomatoes, which now look like they should be in a South American jungle.

This was the area outside the deck in about April, I think!

This is the same area in July, just after the terracing was completed, and right before rainy season hit. Kaoru and I laid the grass ourselves.

The front area, below the house. Around March or April.

The same area by around early August. It's now packed with flowers and looking awesome. One of my favourite parts of the garden, actually.

White mint.

The view from the front, on New Year's Day, 2012 - complete with Mother in driveway!

The front garden, around Late June/early July, 2012.

And again, in around early August. Becoming quite the wild mountain oasis!

Random garden shot #1 - Salvia and white mint in bloom.

Random garden shot #2 - ground creepers. Eventually, the whole front part of the house will be a mixture of ground creepers. I made all of the rock garden beds, which survived the rainy season no probs!

Random shot #3 - the far front wall, with new rock garden bed. This area is now almost completely covered in ground creepers and looks pretty cool. A tree will eventually go in the middle, but I'm not sure what kind yet. Still looking! Probably a サルスベリ - or Crepe Myrtle.