Fall Colours at Shadowlands and Rhododendron walk

You've certainly got a huge variety of trees there, Ptarotuos! I like that you've used cedar chips for your path; I can imagine it must smell very pleasant as you walk along and stir the chips.

You don't mention too much damage from the threatened typhoon so it would seem you pretty much escaped any serious damage....whew!

Repairing your boundary fence....is it a long fence to renew? From the way you describe the property I imagine it to be quite extensive?

It's nice to have your update and to read about all your plant and tree discoveries. Best of luck with all your plans.

how absolutely fantastic ~ wish i was there
you are going to have so many lovely surprises in the spring discovering new plants every day
i like the sound of those chips ~ i wonder if slugs like them or not!!
gingko trees are stunning its the colour and the leaf shape that i love
do you laurel/camelias have any buds on? my camelias have the buds on them now ~ maybe you could identify them that way?
cant wait to see more photos

I really enjoyed your blog and wish I had something as lovely. thanks.

I hope you can identify your treees next year. It's interesting to have so many on your property. I really like your last photo.

Thanks for your comments Whistonlass, Stickitoffee, Drc 726 & Hywel et al,

To answer a couple of the questions: apparently Hinoki chips are very good against slugs, as well as beetles and mites. It is the same sort of wood that we hope to make the onsen bath out of (see an entry of mine a while ago). Because the wooland path has a camber and gradient in places, I was a bit hesitant about putting down chips. I decided not to flatten the path out because I didn't want to ruin the natural look, or interfer with the Sawara cypres roots you see. Having cut down some, for reasons given in a previous blog, I'm anxious that the remaining ones have a long and happy life!

The boundary fence will indeed be long. It all depends on whether the posts currently insitu are rotten or not. I tested a few and they seemed to be firm, but that was just a few. I guess in length the total boundary fence will be 100 + metres (just for the back). If the original posts are ok then I can order 6-8 ft bamboo canes (surprisingly expensive, here in the land of bamboo), and use traditional Japanese knot techniques. Oh, and no, a few branches came off with the typhoon, but they were generally rotten and so saved me the job of hacking them off.

Camelia/Laurel: no buds that I can see, bud I'll have to get up the ladder to check that one. It's a fine tree, whatever it is, and nice to have a non pine/conifer evergreen of that stature.

Thanks for your interest everyone, and sorry for the typos I'm 'supervising' the kids today, so snatching a few minutes whilst one is sleeping and the other is engrossed in TV.

ptarotuos

Hi Stickitoffee: Gingko nuts are also very nice to eat. They are usually served with some dressing as appertisers here in Japan. The smell of the crushed nuts is, however, pungent and unpleasant. Where I work there is a whole avenue of 100 + year-old trees which are spectacular around this time. Apparently the Gingko is something of a pre-historic survivor, and unique.

thanks for that ptarotuos, i had no idea there were nuts on the gingko tree ~ that makes it even more special! shame they smell nasty though
hope you have a good day looking after the children!

Really interesting to see and hear about your garden Ptarotuos, you do live in a beautiful part of our world so very different from what I see, therefore makes it really enjoyable to see your photo`s and follow your blogs. Thankyou.......

Thanks again for your comment everyone. The Hinoki chips do of course look a little 'new' at the moment, but they will soon settle down. I came across a cache of timber, with all joints already cut, that was clearly designed to either refurbish the studio or make the underhang into a room. Without the plans of course I have no idea what the previous owner envisaged. Either we will try to use the timber for this purpose, or if not, then for some kind of summer house or pagoda etc. No idea what this kind of timber would normally cost, but I rather father it is worth hanging on to! See the new photo in my photos. ptarotuos

i agree with lincslass, i think we should all take a trip out to see your garden ptarotuos when its done, i think its going to be fabulous, it already looks a very lovely place. how do you pronounce your name ~ can you write it phonetically so i can work it out? please.

Stickitoffee: ptarotuos is a complicated accronym. P stands for the first letter of my given name, Peter. The 'taro' part in Japanese is a very traditional man's name (like John). It can also be applied to an initial as an admonishment. Just as -san is added to the surname of people to replace Mr. in Japanese, so -kun is usually added to the end of boys' names: for example Ma-kun. When -taro is applied to the first letter of a name it is an admonishment. The final part of the pseudonym is made up of the initials of the University I attended for my first degree. best wishes, ptarotuos

I am fascinated with how you have your name, Ptarotuos. It is well thought out :)