Niwaki Book Reviews

29th January 2010 : My Niwaki book is now in its 3rd run (not saying how many in a run though) and has been translated into French and German. People seem to like it, and (almost) all reviews have been favorable. Read More

Amateur Gardening: Tripod Ladder BEST BUY!

29th January 2010 : After rigorous, head to head testing with the Henchman platform by John Swithinbank, our 10' tripod ladder came out on top! (This was summer 2009. Our phone number has changed, and our prices have gone down.) Read More

Bunny Guinness Christmas Shopping

29th January 2010 : Better late than never, this was in the Sunday Telegraph just before Christmas. We'd sold out of Okatsune secateurs by Sunday night, and hori horis by Wednesday! Read More

Old Tripod Ladders

27th January 2010 : Check out this collection of old steel tripod ladders, still in use today by the looks of things. They must weigh a ton. There's a few newer ones in the background. Also, what I like most of all about Japanese nurseries - the vegetables growing amongst the trees. Some taro with the big leaves, and… Read More

Ise Jingu

21st January 2010 : This is from yonks back- first Japanese photos with my then-new Ricoh GRD in fact. It was a trip to Ise shrine in Mie, one of the most important Shinto shrines in the country. This is pretty much where life in Japan began, according to legend. It's also the place they rebuild very 20 years (next… Read More

More Trees From The Japanese Nursery

17th January 2010 : During our trip to japan last autumn I spent a few hours looking round a local nursery, with an amazing collection of trees. Here are a few, with more to follow. Pinus thunbergii - kuromatsu   Podocarpus macrophyllus - maki Ilex integra - mochinoki, daimochi These daimochi are an evergreen holly… Read More

Japanese White Pines

13th January 2010 : Keith from Vancouver, who regularly sends over fascinating pictures from his travels to Japan, sent this one recently, of his father-in-law at work* on white pines (goyoumatsu). Look at all the bamboo poles used as splints in each tree, training the branches down. * Actually Keith has now told me… Read More

Niwaki Workshop 15th September

10th January 2010 : I'm organising a day-long workshop at Harvard Farm,with an informal talk/slideshow, a tasty lunch, a tour round Mum's garden (usually only open to Borderlines tours) and a workshop looking at pine pruning and cloud pruning. It should be interesting both for people keen to introduce a bit of… Read More

Happy Birthday Elvis

8th January 2010 : Rather than showing pleasant pics of snow-on-topiary I thought I'd honor Elvis' 75th birthday with some pics of a garden that my brother in law Shigenori always drives me to see when we stay with him in Japan. Nothing fancy, but great black pines - and some fine overhead cables too. I like the way… Read More

Tenrikyo

3rd January 2010 : A visit to the headquarters of Tenrikyo in Tenri (in Nara ken, I think) in early November. I'd been before at this time of year, and was hoping to see the gardeners in action. The red pines at the front had already been pruned, but sure enough, they were pruning the tall trees behind the main… Read More

New Year Clear Out

1st January 2010 : We're having a bit of a clear out on ebay if anyone is interested. Nikon F2, Nikon F 35-105 zoom, old barbour smock... more coming soon! Little Digby is selling off some of his snow suits too, so stock up for the chilly weather. HAPPY NEW YEAR Read More