Ja p a ne s e G a r de n E - ne w s

Volume 3 June 2006

TA K E
Eiji (Age) Morozumi Landscape Designer Consultant
INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Have a break, have a Green tea

DO IT YOURSELF C O N T E M P O R A RY C O U R T Y A R D
In May issue, I wrote about How to set your mind to make Japanese style courtyard. In this issue I will tell you how to make a small garden which you and your family can enjoy being in. It is important to make a good connection between inside and outside. If the inside floor is timber or carpet, then some decking would be nice. If the inside floor is slate or marble like, then some kind of hard surface would fit in nicely. Think when you are dressing up (hey guys, dont worry this is not for men). Its all about balance. Why men cant win Balance with colour, balance with texture and balance with wait for it .. Feeeeling. Just remember dont mix too many materials. I will show you a short cut because the area will be small. 1. You can clear the area - this is a good time to get rid of your junk and unwanted plants (you may put in a pot just in case you need them again) 2. Place a stake to each corner of say decking. 3. Tie some tape so you can see the decking
Continue to Page 3

In Japan 1 Minute cooking Plant of the month DIY DIYCourtyard Footprint Womens Quotation Readers voice

Mens rule for Women If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one. Readers voice Mr. KO wrote, he uses Acidifying Powder Sulphur to lower the PH for Azalea, Camellia etc. 3kg bags for $11 from Mitre 10 and It costs as much as the smaller packs in Bunnings. Thanks K

If you buy her flowers, you are after something. If you dont, you are not thoughtful.

1 Minute Cooking

whatever you can find stew for Winter

Cut in chunks any meat and vegetables you can find or fancy. Put in a pan (cast iron pot preferred) Cook meat and onion with 1 tbsp oil to brown . Add rest of vegies and soup stock to

cover. Add salt, pepper, soy sauce, bbqsauce, tomato sauce etc to taste. Bring to Boil first, then cook very slowly for 3~4 hrs. Excellent for cooking on slow wood heater or electric stove. You can put on the stove at noon and by evening its ready to eat. From Sandy

Have a good cry Youll feel better

A happy marriage is the union of two forgivers. Ruth Bell Graham

TAKE 5

June 2006 Volume 3

Page 2

In Japan
Momiji gari
The Japanese have expressed their love for the beauty of autumn colours since ancient times, and the custom of going into the hills to admire the autumn foliage is also old. And..yes, you guessed it. Its nice to take one or two bottles of Sake with friends and sit under the Japanese maple tree. Hold sake cup and slowly bring to your mouth, you can see red and yellow leaves in the cup. Drink autumn colours with sake. Isnt it romantic. Nowadays, people go to temples, shrines and other forested areas. Kyoto has many autumn beauty spots, including Ginkaku-ji, a temple with beautiful garden.

Camellia sasanqua
If roses are the king of flowers then camellias are the queen of flowers This acid loving small tree can be used as focus plant or make a perfect hedge against a fence or dividing garden. Prune after flowering and give good fertilizer in spring. Best way to plant camellia and azaleas is make soil acid, mixing small pine bark to existing soil in 1 : 1 portion with a handful of cow manure. Finish by mulching with extra pine bark. Hiccup
Drink 1~2 tbl spoon of Balsamic Vinegar will stop hiccups straight away

Womens rule for Men Saying something sweet might get you off the hook; Doing something sweet will always get you off the hook
We started early morning picking pears but it wasnt easy to make money so after meeting another friend from Darwin decided to move on to tobacco picking. We ended up with a group of young people and worked Monday to Saturday. I still couldnt speak much English but good enough to live by. Then one day, I was told by the big boss to look after the workers and control the picking after I mediated a minor problem between a worker and one of the bosses.

Footprint
December 1975, five friends of mine decided to head to Sydney and I joined them. After a few days in Sydney, I separated from my friends and headed to Melbourne and met another friend. By this time my purse was getting lighter.how light?...... extremely light! We headed to the country to do some fruit picking and ended up at an Italian family orchard. I only had $10 when we got the job. Lucky!!! You can do something like that because 1) I was young and stupid and 2) It was the 70s.

We usually went to the field to pick tobacco leaves. After that one of the bosses would take them to drying shed to hang Continue to Page 3 them to dry. We finished our

TAKE 5
J a p a n es e G a r d en E-n ews

June 2006 Volume 3 Page 3

took a shower, cooked 5 dinTAKE ner and rested. But one

Japanese Landscaping 197 Edgewater Drive Edgewater WA 6027 Australia

Tel/Fax +61 08 9405 4456 info@japaneselandscaping.com.au www.japaneselandscaping.com.au

took a shower, cooked dinner and rested. But one day two of the bosses asked me to give them a hand OK, which hand? Both hands would be nice was the answer. I didnt know that meant to help. Anyway because hanging leaves was taking longer and longer (our picking efficiency was getting better and had almost doubled by that time). I said to myself They trusted me as who I am and not what I look. OK Eiji, give them a hand and see how long I can work). I and another friend were working 7 am till 11 pm for next 3 weeks and boy, werent we glad when it finished. And to my surprise when we are having job well done Party, the two bosses handed me a bonus with a strong hand shake and big hug. I was very happy and saved enough money to buy a second hand campervan. To be Continued

From Page 2

From page 1

area clear as a whistle. 4. Sit back, it might be nice to have a cup or two of whatever you like to drink. (But not SAKE yet) 5. Think about the plants, where you can put them in the most effective way. (this exercise may take a while). You can use any pot plants for the time being, as long as they dont confuse you. 6. Just put them anywhere you like, dont worry so much. Check from inside the house, wherever you will be looking at the most. 7. Then, think balance with everything including feeling. How do you feel? At this stage, you need to think which plants would be nice to finish off your project. 8. Repeat 2~7 until you are almost happy with your 3 D design. 9. If you are happy with everything, start organising the
.

work like carpenter, garden labour, brick paving etc. 10. You did it! Congratulations. You started to make a small garden in casual way and ended up with perfect project. You better give yourself a reward like a new stone lantern or water feature. Attached concept plan is 4x6m in size and just a sample to show what can be done. Next issue of DIY is Courtyard for appreciation

Copyright Japanese Landscaping 2006

Coming in the July

TAKE 5
DIYCourtyard, In Japan 1 minute Cooking Plant of the Month Womens Quotation Footprint

If you have anything to publish in this newsletter, please send information to take5@japaneselandscaping.com.au If you wish to discontinue, please send email to cancel@japaneselandscaping.com.au