Big (but unimpressive) project done (Rhapis humilis)

[Fukuoka Scott]

So we have this big planter on one side of the driveway at the "new" house that was full of random bulbs you can't see most of the time, and horrible weeds, especially the loathsome dokudami and equisetum, which you may be aware have extremely deep, numerous, tenacious roots. As you can see from this pic taken in May, my attempt to remove them last year failed.



So I started a project to manually SIFT all the soil in the planter down to about 70-80 cm to get rid of all the weed roots. That took several weeks, which has not been fun the past week or so with temperatures soaring into the 30s. But the sifting is done at last! And now I have planted a couple of very traditional Japanese garden plants, Rhapis humilis and Aspidistra elatior. There are also a bunch of Philodendron selloum (sue me for using the old name!) in back that will hopefully add some interest, and a Brunfelsia pauciflora off to the right for a bit of color. Not the most exotic planting but hopefully should be low maintenance and attractive.







Next step will be to fill in the holes on top of the blocks and then paint the whole thing white.

[LostInJapan]

"Small" projects can take a whole lot more time than is wanted, particularly cleaning beds of unwanted species. IMO dokudami (Houttuynia cordata) cannot be fully eradicated in this climate and gardening situation. I have tried to get rid of it utterly in my little urban garden, and inevitably it finds a way back in. One problem is it seeds readily. Horsetails are another matter. I have found viable roots nearly a meter into hard packed clay, so truly removing ALL of them is nearly impossible. The solution is simple - relentlessly pull them as they come up. In this way you can limit their vigor and keep them in check. It's a bummer, but in my experience the only way. Question: don't you think those selloums are going to overtake the bed once they establish? Them suckers can get big.

[Fukuoka Scott]

Question: don't you think those selloums are going to overtake the bed once they establish? Them suckers can get big.

I don't mind them taking over as long as they look decent! This area (and that northeast-facing side of the house in particular) is more frost prone than our old place so the aspidistra are mainly a fail-safe in case the selloums fail in a severe winter (I doubt they'd die but I'd rather not have an empty space until they grow back in spring...)

[MartinNicklin]

Will look great when it matures. Just out of curiosity, what is the score with water in Japan? Is it expensive? On a meter charged by usage amounts like some of us in the UK? Or a flat fee and you can use what you use? In the UK my local water authority has just hiked up my bill by about £250 per annum which is an increase of about 30% making water more expensive that gas. At the same time one local town has seen massive areas under water due, I assume, to poor maintenance of infrastructure.

[Fukuoka Scott]

Just out of curiosity, what is the score with water in Japan? Is it expensive? On a meter charged by usage amounts like some of us in the UK?

I am on well water here as well as my house in the mountains so the only issues are electricity to run the pump and the fact that this well is a bit shallow so I can only water for about 8 minutes at a time and then need to wait half an hour for the well to recharge. Which means I have to prioritize the tree feens and newly planted things. Luckily we have fairly good rainfall amounts most of the time. Aspidistra for example is surprisingly drought tolerant.

When we lived in the city the city water was based on usage, and because the yard was so small I don't think it every cost more than 12,000 yen for a 2-month period. Usually was closer to 9000. I guess that's comparable to what we pay for gas but we only use gas for cooking and heating water.

[Andrew in Germany]

A wall of selloums sounds lush. I have / had a large one in a pot which I carted into the greenhouse every autumn until this past winter it became too large and heavy. I heaved it into an unheated shed and it died above ground, we had somewhere around -8/-9c lows for a brief time and almost no light for the entire winter. The roots remained active and it's now pushing up 3 new plants. Nature did what I was too wimpy to do. I'm sure you're aware of their requirements, and if you can get a Rhapis humilis to live throughout the year then I'm sure your wall of selloums will look the business.