A Delayed Spring

This spring, I fell behind on posting regularly. Two factors contributed to the delay.

First, I postponed most early-spring garden maintenance and held off on major projects within the existing Asian themed gardens because landscape work was underway elsewhere on the property.

Second, I planned a May trip to Los Angeles to visit more than 24 Japanese gardens. Writing entries for My North American Garden Adventure took considerable time and pushed spring and summer projects further back.

The During the summer of 2026 we chose to rebuild our front porch. Serious structural issues resulted in instability that required a new deck and supporting posts.

We took this opportunity to move forward with a full front yard landscaping reconsideration.

We also needed to consider the walkway and herb garden. The walkway was a 20-year-old “temporary” path made of 16 x 16-inch pavers with an adjacent herb garden.

Plants in the front bed and the herb garden were removed.

The new walkway would be installed in spring, after which the old pavers would be reused as a patio base beneath the gazebo in the Zen garden courtyard, slated for completion later in the spring/summer 2026.

I re-landscaped the front yard to introduce curves that would border the new herb garden and create a sweeping bed for the rose garden.

Most of this first phase, including the addition of an acre of mulch, was finished before winter, including planting the roses and other plants. All pre-existing herbs were potted up and overwintered in the vegetable garden greenhouses and raised beds, to be replanted in the spring.

The old walkway would remain throughout the winter until a new walkway could be installed in the spring.

In early spring, we scheduled the installation of a new curved front walkway. Matching the circular geometry we created in the fall was a priority, and the contractor did an excellent job with a stamped-concrete walkway in a natural stone pattern and a brownish patina.

Once the walkway was in, we replanted the herb garden, followed by work along the bed in front of the porch.

We also added a small circular island with a pear tree. I initially considered shaping the bed like a yin–yang symbol, but decided that would be too kitschy, so I kept it a simple circle. 

Later, I placed a small Japanese stone lantern I picked up during my California trip.

There’s still much to do. The plan is to recreate the Middle Gate entrance and connect it to the front yard with new plantings. In the meantime, the rose garden is comig along and the front yard looks much improved.

A large stone and another Japanese lantern are planned for the bed in front of the porch as a separate summer project beginning in July.

Hopefully, these additions will strengthen the connection between the Japanese-themed gardens elsewhere on the property.

Hopefully this explain the long absence from the blog throughout the spring and early summer (note: this post is back-dated but was written in early July).

Eastern Renewal

After spending much of my summer repairing fences and gates, it should be no surprise that the East Gate, which separates the Zen Garden from the Stroll Garden, also needed some maintenance.

The cedar embellishments were removed, sanded, and re-stained.

I also removed the bamboo screens that had been installed in 2018. Time and weathering left them looking unsightly. These were then replaced with cedar boards, similar to the rest of the fence structure within the Zen Garden.

The bottom supports for the screens had to be replaced, stained, and installed. For this repair, I used steel brackets to hold the bottom rails. 

Re-staining the remainder of the gate green was straight forward, with the exception that this gate is large and requires more time and effort to re-stain than the Middle Gate restoration.

I hesitated to re-stain the panels on the doors, but finally decided to take them down, sand them and re-stain them.

The difference between the old stain and the re-sanded boards was dramatic. 

It was odd seeing the gate absent its panels. They were first installed in 2014.

I was initially concerned about disturbing the stability of the gate structure, but the frame held up well.

Re-inserting the newly stained panels was relatively easy to accomplish. Once done, the gate looked brand new.

Now that this gate is complete all of the garden fence and gates features are uniform in color and design. The only problem is that when the next cycle or maintenance occurs, all of the gates will need to be addressed at the same time - another long summer of fence and gate repairs.

Brace Yourself

When I started building the new fence along the back of the Dragon's Spine, I made a major mistake. The main cedar frame in the center required two posts that were 5' high. 

Rather than purchase posts greater that 8', I opted to save money and attempt to build the frame with 8' posts, 3' below ground and 5' above. In theory, 3' below ground should be fine. However, I never had posts that rose to 5' or above that were not attached to cement sonotubes with a bracket.

The problem is that over the last two years the posts have shifted upwards a couple of inches due to frost heave. 

As a result, the two posts, and the central panel are leaning back. I have to stop the lean before the outer panels of the overall fence begin to shift.

I had two choices from which to pick a solution:

1) dismantle the fence and add cement sonotubes and brackets to the two central posts

2) add 4 x 4 post braces behind the fence

Dismantling the fence to add sonotubes would be a major undertaking. Adding support braces would be less difficult. Also, if the sonotubes don't work, I would be stuck with two 3' deep cement footings that would be difficult to remove in the future. Installing cedar posts with post protectors and metal brackets would be easy to install, and easier to maintain or replace in the future.

Therefore, I added two support posts.

Similar to the work I completed recently on the Woodland Gate, I dug post holes, added two 8' posts with two rails each, and connected them with steel brackets. Each post also has a post protector to slow down rot at the ground level.

Instead of bolts to connect the posts, I am opting for steel brackets. 

Doing so will allow me to avoid drilling through the main posts and having to hide the bolt holes that would be visible from the front. If over time the brackets don't hold, I can always add future bolts as a final solution.

Although slightly visible from the garden side of the fence, the posts remain mostly unseen unless one goes behind the fence.

I stained the support posts black to match the rest of the fence structure. I then added copper caps yo finish off the project. 

The fence is now less likely to continue to lean back. 

Hopefully this will slow done or solve the problem. Only time will tell.

Bonsai Re-Ballanced

The renovation on the Middle Gate placed some emphasis on the need to rethink the hallway and Bonsai Gallery.

The two large Spirea that had been in this location for many years were in need of some care.

2024

Both had lost their globe like shape, a characteristic that is common to Spirea within their first few of years. However, I have learned that over time they tend to be come a bit thinned out with very little growth at the core. Unfortunately, the one on the left was in really bad shape after I trimmed it out. Once bucketed, I gave it to a neighbor.

The one on the right has much more potential. It thinned out considerably since last year, but with more sun and some time to develop new growth from the core, it might rejuvenate itself in a couple years. 

I then began to remove all of the peastone from the plant bed with the intention of adding mulch at the end of this project. 

This will prove more beneficial for all of the shrubs and help with water/soil management. I will eventually wash clean all the peastone removed and spread it throughout the hallway at a later date.

The Golden Globe Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Gold Globe') in the middle was planted in this location in 2017. It has actually done well and finally has a nice globe shape. However, when it was planted, there were already two spirea here, so it was planted between them, but not necessarily in the middle of the hallway.

Moving it slightly to the right placed it in the center of the new bed. 

I then planted two new Compact Korean Azalea (Azalea yedoense var. poukhanese 'Compata') on either side to complete the plantings along the bed. 

These two shrubs should grow to 3' tall and wide, perfect for the narrow hall bed. The colors of the leaves are also darker than the Arborvitae, adding some differentiation to the plantings. They will also produce a lilac-purple flower mid spring.

I also relocated the two center bonsai stands to equally distribute all four along the bed. Together with the shrubs there now exists a more balanced placement of these features.

The conner by the garage door and a space near the gate entrance needed something to hide the open view of the foundation, so I planted Astilbe 'Vision in Pink" (Astilbe chinensis) at each end. The pinkish flowers of these Astilbe will add some color differentiation to the bed.

The final touch was adding a lay-flat border guard to keep peastone out of the bed. 

With the mulch added, the new bonsai gallery looks wonderful. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.