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Art of Gardening:

Scenery of Pine grove and meadow

Welcome to Pine grove and Bōka-kaku Pavilion.

Illustrated by Satoshi Washida / The gardener of Shosei-en Garden

Scenery of Meadow

As its name suggests, Bōka-kaku Pavilion (“a pavilion next to flowers”) is a famous spot for enjoying cherry blossoms, several varieties of which bloom there in the spring. Due to recent environmental changes, however, these cherry blossoms are rapidly declining in vigor. We are considering measures in response to these weakened cherry blossoms. Especially during the period between spring to summer when they stand out, we are growing the grass height taller like a prairie to create a mountain village landscape as a means of concealing the weakened cherry blossoms.

The name Shōsei-en derives from the pastoral landscape of the Chinese poet Tao Yuanming’s homeland, which he wrote of in his famous poem “Let Me Return Home.” The landscape of wildflowers blooming and grass softly waving by the riverside. Dragonflies flitter back and forth, calling nostalgic thoughts to mind.

The soft and luxuriant spring grass is also intended to be effective at restraining summer grass. Cogon grass cut at the beginning of autumn is grown up to the ankles, giving the garden a feeling of color when it turns red.

Scenery of Coastal Pine Grove

In Japan, pine needle carpet rolls are generally used as arrangements for tea gardens and for the additional purpose of protecting moss.

Of course, pine grove scenery is also seen on ocean coasts, or the shores of Lake Biwa. Integrating famous landscapes into a garden is a traditional Japanese garden creation technique.

When needles drop from pine trees in the natural world, they weaken the acidity of their soil, resulting in a beneficial environment for the pine tree. In this area, we’ve expressed that pine tree survival strategy through these pine needle carpet rolls. They are powerfully effective at restraining the growth of weeds that pine trees don’t like.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The pine needles spread over the ground develop hair cuticles that reflect the low hanging rays of winter sunlight, making the whole pine grove shine.

Photograph by Yosuke Ota / The gardener in charge of Shosei-en Garden

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