Consultation by Jake Hobson: SCULPTURE NATURE JAKETURE
Based on my experiences in Japan, 5 years working at Architectural Plants in Sussex, and countless private pruning jobs since, I now offer a pruning and consultation service: practical advice, sourcing, planting schemes, initial pruning and in some cases pruning maintenance, for both Japanese style and creative topiary projects, as well as tuition, lectures and workshops.
Niwaki, organic topiary and cloud pruning: I can initiate authentic Japanese pine projects and give tuition for future maintenance. My interests lie in using Japanese techniques on a range of plants, in Western settings, and the long term training and shaping of them.
Trees
Sourcing: authentic Japanese black pines (pinus thungergii) Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) & Japanese maples from European nurseries.
Home grown: in a field, deep in Dorset, the first flush of home grown niwaki are coming to fruition - a range of pines (P sylvestris, thungergii) holly (Ilex aquifolium) holm oak (Quercus ilex) Cryptomeria japonica and Phillyrea latifolia. These are all field grown, in the Japanese tradition, and come in shapes and sizes not seen anywhere else in the country. They will make excellent features in all types of garden, both Japanese and Western.
Lectures/Workshops
I give digital presentations on niwaki, their role in the Japanese garden and how they can be used creatively over here. I also touch on the techniques used to train and prune them, but this is better addressed in a workshop, or tuition. Previous lectures and workshops in the UK have been presented to the English Gardening School, the Garden History Society, the Caledonian Society, The Japanese Garden Society, The European Boxwood and Topiary Society, The Dorset Garden Trust and various Bonsai groups. In The US I have given talks to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons.
