Autumn after the rain

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.

The tomatoes, before they had a party and went crazy. Okra is in there too.

Rose of Sharon tree, planted in August.

Basil. Soooooo much basil!

The pink flowers at the front are Lemon Bee Balm, otherwise known as Pink Bergamot.

Garden in August.

Green Lavender (left) and Pink Bergamot (right).

Gardening 101

Hello folks! Long time no post, I know.

Unbelievably, we've just hit the 6 month mark of living in the Ogura Mansion (aka "The Palace"). We love living up here so much, and the house has already stood rock solid through two earthquakes, one of which didn't even wake me up!

The garden has been a bit of a challenge. I'm no gardener, but I'm trying to learn. I go to a gardening class once a month, which has been really inspiring and fun. We've also bitten the bullet and have hired our builder to terrace the mound at the front of our house, and build a wooden wall around the parking. The terracing will be part random/part veggie garden when it's done, and the section around the parking will have some small trees planted soon. Here's a couple of pics:

The wooden border around the parking area begins.

Surveying his work...the landscaper.

Recycled wood. This will eventually be painted dark brown.

The back cinder block wall will also be painted soon (by us). Grey is too depressing, no?!

Here are a few pics of what the garden looks like at the moment - we'll compare over the next few weeks!

Stone stairs down to the compost bins.

Looking towards the house.

The wooden wall, two days later.

WKB!

The wall, two days later.

Materials for the terracing arrive. These are stone from England. Looks like wood, but won't rot.

My precious compost bins.

ooops! How did that get in there? Yummy beer...

This umbrella pot broke, so I turned it into a flower pot.

The first thing I ever made in gardening class.

My little garden outside the Japanese room.

Just bought these little pots today - went to my favourite nursery. Dangerous!

These very old Octapus pots will be filled with something soon. Not sure what yet...

This garden has some more growing to do - one more section will be added later.

Cherry tree.

The start of the bulb garden. These are irises I saved from our last place. One day this will be a thick iris garden, and have loads of other things in it too.

As of next week, the mound of weeds behind this pot will be terraced. Yay! In the foreground is a bunch of stuff I have planted, including Australian paper daisies, a cranberry bush and thyme.

Why we need to terrace - uncontrollable soil erosion and weeds.

In the foreground is the momiji I planted at our old place 5 years ago - now it has a permanent home. But the weeds are getting kicked out!

My attempt to stop the hill sliding down in the rain. A temporary solution!

We love our house, but think the first landscaping people were a bunch of useless "&&@IU F . Enough said.

Retro 1970s kitchen flowers? Ha! I love them.

OK, will report back next week and show you new pictures. Until then!