20111209

Today was spent going up and down the ladders (I ended up using three different ladders!) pruning wisterias in the Walled Garden. Happily it’s all done there on the wall but I know we have a few more to prune in different areas. I love the job but because it takes long time, I sometimes feel a bit impatient because my mind may drift off to other tasks that need to be done, very soon.

今日は一日中　藤　の剪定。楽しい作業ですがはしごを上ったり降りたり、そしてあまり動かないので寒い・・・でもなんとかこのエリアは終了。

Wisterias are on the wall far end.　藤は（見えにくいですが）奥の壁に沿って植えられています。

Empty beds!　そして　ウォールド・ガーデンはほぼ空っぽ。

I had a lot to take on this week. I am being given lectures on planting design based on an actual area of the garden, with a possibility of coming true. This is very exciting and so far, the garden design course I was studying in London is helping me a lot! I have to get the measurement taken and start drawing and coming up with some ideas (concept). Apart from that, we are given 25 plants that we will have to be able to identify from bare branches. After work today I went round collecting bits of branches from these plants – I collected them in a bag and brought them back into my flat only to find that I cannot tell which one is which…

今週はいろいろと課題が足されました。まず、デザインのレッスンでは再来週までに課題のエリアの簡単な測量と、コンセプトプランの提出、さらに２５のIDが発表になりました・・・が、今回のIDは枝のみ（葉、花なし）で名前を当てられるように。ということでこれも２週間後にテスト。

Some are easier to tell apart with some strong characteristics on bark, buds or leaf scars. This one below is one of the easiest one.

２５のうちいくつかは本当に違いを見極めるのが難しいです。いくつかは特徴が強くてわかりやすいですが・・・たとえば下の写真。

Hamamelis × intermedia



It gets dark so early now, one (of many) thing I still struggle to cope; we do not have such big day length difference in Japan. The moon was bright and looked very large... some things never look quite the same on a picture.
今日は満月でした。たぶん。イギリスではどんどん日が短くなって今は日の出８時過ぎ、日の入り４時です。しかも雨・曇りの日が多い。これにはどうもまだ慣れない・・・陽が足りないよー！

20111206

It has gone cold… probably not as cold as it should be but I had to spend some time clapping my hands in the morning to get my nerves back in my fingertips.

I heard a big operation on the other side of the wall so I rushed out to see what was going on…

There were two mighty big tractors and huge shredder!

We hire local famers to get bracken in summer and keep these to rest. Now they come round to shred them and make a new heap for us. It looks much finer than the remaining of the last year’s stuff.

I feel a bit geeky to be excited to see a big heap of mulching material… well I am a gardening geek no doubt!

20111202

December! And finally, FINALLY we had frost! Light one though. And first morning since I came here I felt that my fingers are cold and need some warming up… All gardeners would know what keeps you warm this time of the year. The best choice is to bury yourself into compost heap (I suggested to dig a tub-shaped hole in compost heap (as ours are quite big) and have our breaks spa-jacuzzi style.(Suggestion declined)
１２月！とうとう、やっとこ、霜が降りました。軽い霜ですが。そして今日はここに来て初めて、朝指先が冷たくて感覚が鈍りました。こんな寒い日にガーデナーは温まるために何をするでしょう・・・？一番温かいのはコンポストに埋まること。（コンポストは分解される過程で熱を発します・条件がよければ６０度くらい？まであがることも。）

But this morning I was warming myself up by raking up leaves in Bulb Meadow. Lilliodendron trees kept their leaves longest out of Magnolia and Cercidiphyllum.

でも今朝はコンポストに埋まる代わりに落ち葉集めで温まりました。リリオデンドロンがけっこういつまでも葉を残していましたね。

Walled garden is getting emptied – we dug up Dahlias to store, cutting hardy perennials back to ground. We are going to cut grasses (Miscanthus and Molinia) down now as well, which I had thought we would wait until spring. We are going to have a big session going through the area when everyone is available and the whole area will be put to sleep.

ウォールド・ガーデンもみるみる空っぽになっていきます。

I could see some dense fog forming in distance over the church.
遠くに霧が発生しているのが見えます。（この辺はよく霧が出ますが、今のところ濃霧の中を運転しなければならない状況には出会っていませんが、いづれ、間違いなく・・・。）