Amazing advances in technology

I am constantly amazed by the technology I keep stumbling across: today it is a programme for my iPod that enables me to scribble this blog from my sun lounger beside a pool in Palm Springs. No pen or paper, no wired computer: just my iPod and finger.

As a hack blogger I am sure this post will need serious editing at some point but .... the freedom of this little computer and a wifi connection are staggering attainments in my mind.

I have attached a photograph from Kyoto to link with my earlier tweet today about Basho, one of Japan's greatest poets and whose writings I am enjoying on this holiday!
"Disturbing the stillness
of an ancient pond
a frog jumps into the water:
Deep resonance."

So there: some more blogged thoughts on this and that as I scribble and sketch my day through!

Kyoto

My first visit to Japan has proven to be an absolute triumph. Not only do I have a massively higher estimation of the Japanese people - all of whom I found extremely polite, helpful, courteous, but also of their culture and outlook on life. It would be impossible to gain anything but a minuscule of knowledge in the week or so that we spent in Japan ... but wow! what people, what a place, what a culture!

The greatest highpoint for a gardener was obviously the temples and gardens of Kyoto.

I found myself every day trying desperately not to say: things have better as the trip unfolded. With the benefit of several hundred photographs (500+) and distance, I can confidently point out "equal bests" from every day, and that has been gratifying. Jeff and I saw so much and yet there remains so much to see. At the end of this blog is a list of the sites dipped into - and I mean dipped as we wanted to see as much as we could in preparation for, yes, a return visit soon.

Whenever I visit a new gallery or museum, I try to glance into every room in order to get the flavour of the place. I then reflect and return to maybe three or four rooms or galleries for a more studious visit. And so it was and will be with Kyoto. So what impressed me:

The cleanliness - My God how clean is the whole of Japan? It's amazing.

The spirituality of the people - particularly in Kyoto. In one of our guide books it made light of the reverence of the Japanese for their Shinto and Buddhist roots and said that these were no longer of importance. Where-ever we went there was clearly a very strong observance of religious ritual and while I accept that these two traditions are inter-observed by most or many Japanese, I can see no wrong in that: they are clearly acknowledging what I believe is a universal fundamental to all religions. Somewhere in the root of all the world's faiths can be found the truth! The smell of incense, the rich tones of the Buddhist monks leading people in prayer through the day; the shrines along the paths and roads or in gardens; the dressed statues of Buddha; the Zen gardens and their abstract spirituality encouraging a moment if not life of contemplation - all these are the heady essence of a living faith.

The gorgeousness of the colour in the autumn sunlight - even the few cherry trees still in leaf brought something to the mix of Acers and Ginkgos, the reds, golds and pale yellow tree leaves against which the moving palate of green mosses and grasses contrasted in sumptuous compliment with each other. To that could be added the blue sky, the unseasonal warmth of the sunlight and the bird song in some of the temple gardens. Magic.

The artifice and art of both the gardens and beautiful Ikebana flower arrangements. The amazing topiary and shrub pruning. The symbolism of every element used in the design - the significance or meaning of of which I could only hazard a guess.

The War Memorials - not just to the Japanese dead and missing from the Burma Campaign in which my father fought but all so to the Unknown Soldier of the World in Worlds War II. We were there when the Allies remember their dead - 11th November - how poignant to reflect upon the sacrifices and bravery of the enemy of my parents' generation. What an opportunity for personally re-appraising the futility and ghastliness of warfare - man upon man.

The amazing food - we didn't see sushi once - but we had some amazing tempura, sashimi, tepenyaki, kaeseki ...

The Bullet Train ride between Tokyo and Kyoto. Looking out of the train window at Mt. Fuji with its snow-dressed cap.

Oh, and did I mention the Americans? When we returned to the Okura Hotel in Tokyo at the weekend, the Obama delegation had taken over a wing of the hotel (the Embassy is located right next door). A little over the top on the number of policemen , secret service agents from both countries and airport style security screening ...

So where did we go?

Nijo Castle and grounds.

Arashiyama: Togetsu-kyo bridge; Tenryu-ji; Bamboo forests; Kameyama Koen; Okochi Sanso Villa (a private garden); Jokakuko-ji; Gio-ji (fantastic moss garden); Adashino-nembutsu-ji; Atago torii (lovely old thatched roofs).

Northern Higashiyama: Tenju-an (Zen garden); Konchi-in (Zen garden); Nanzen-ji; Kotoqu-an; Eian-do; along the philosopher's walk to Honen-in and Ginkaku-ji (Zen garden with the Mt. Fuji structure).

North west Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Temple; Ryoan-ji (possibly the most famous Zen garden, war memorial to Burmese campaign).

Southern Higashiyama: Taini Neguri (where we entered the absolute darkness of the womb of the Bodhisattva); Kiyomiza-dera; Ishibei Koji (spectacular side street); Ryozen Kannon (war memorial to all unknown soldiers killed in WWII); Chion-in (the Vatican of Buddhist complexes in Kyoto); Shoren-in (spectacularly decorated rooms over-looking a lovely garden.

Daitoku-ji: A huge complex of working temples into which we went: Daisen-in (Zen Garden); Ryongen in (a 400 year old Camellia - the oldest in Japan?); and finally Koto-in (a sublime Zen garden amongst others and impressive Ikebana display).

SUMMER, SAISHO-IN

The evening bell, solemn and bronze

in the grandfather temple down the hill,

sounds dimly here.

Slow beat of the mountain's heart, perhaps,

or determined pulse of pine tree (gift of the birds)

growing out of the crotch of the slippery mountain tree.

All one, perhaps - -

bell, mountain, tree . . .

and steady cicada vibratto

and little white dog

and quiet artist-priest, carver of the Noh masks,

fashioning a bamboo crutch, symbol of strength, symbol of concern.

All cool under nodding crowns of the vertical forest,

all seeking this place,

all finding in this place - -

hidden yet open to all - -

the spirit in the cedar's heart.

(Anon)

___ ___ ___

Verse seen at the entrance to Saisho-in: a small, Eighth Century Buddhist temple in a mountain gorge near Kyoto.

Japan beckons

Six weeks to go before I reach Japan for the first time! Wow - what a trip to look forward to!

My father fought in Burma during the Second World War and, I guess sub-consciously at least, I grew up with a dis-respect for the Japanese as a consequence (Dad was wounded by a sniper). However, once I started gardening and studying horticulture in the 1970's, I started to see Japan in a different light completely. How can one not be charmed and indeed enthralled by their attention to detail, their skill and love of craftsmanship, their knowledge and respect for the natural and spiritual worlds?

Much more recently, I have assumed the stewardship of the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park - a wonderful oasis of colour and serenity in the very heart of West London. It's an important garden in its own right too as a living symbol of the friendship and mutual respect that now has been restored between the people of Great Britain and Japan.

And topping that is my growing fascination with Japanese food. I was never a great fan of fish until I tasted fresh tuna sashimi . . . now I can't get enough Japanese food! Fortunately we are not too far away from one of London's finest restaurants: Tosa, (King's Street in Hammersmith).

I look forward to the bustle of Tokyo, the Bullet Train and finally Kyoto in the autumn!

August 2008

In the August edition of the “Leader’s Blog” by the Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, attention is drawn to the very negative response that some people have to trees. Where to you or I they provide shade, sustain the atmosphere or help prevent our precious soil from disappearing into the Thames, to others they are nothing more than a useful plaything on which to toughen their pet dog’s jaws.

At a recent commemorative tree planting in Holland Park, the former film director and now weekly critic / columnist in the Sunday Times (amongst others), Michael Winner, stated that trees “symbolise life”, and there can be no more poignant reminder of that when looking up through the now diseased branches of the chestnut tree that Ann Frank observed in Amsterdam from her hiding place “glistening with dew, the seagulls and other birds glinting with silver as they swooped through the air and we were so moved and entranced that we couldn’t speak…”. Despite the obvious dangers that that particular tree now presents on account of the extent of decay through it, the efforts to propagate new trees from it as a fall-back should the current efforts to save it are an inspiration.

I believe the oldest living species of tree is Metasequioia glyptostrodoides. A member of the Redwood tree family, its common name, Dawn Redwood, refers to the ‘dawn of time’ from whence it is thought to originate. For centuries, western scientists thought that it was extinct but in 1941 a small number of living specimens were discovered growing in the Sichuan province of China.

Rare or unusual trees are always a source of interest as much as the history behind them. In 2003 the London Naturalist published an extremely informative paper: Greater London as an arboretum – a guide to its trees. The authors are all authorities in their field and despite the evocative title of the paper (consider the whole of London as one big arboretum … ) it is particularly satisfying to see that they have included trees from the Royal borough. These include the olive tree growing in Chelsea Physic Garden that was featured in a more recent edition of the RHS Garden magazine (yes, we’ve all got an olive now thanks to these articles extolling the virtues of matching your plant choice to the changing climate!) but this doesn’t just bear fruit: it’s enormous! Another tree mentioned is the avocado Persea americana – also in Chelsea (and which I gather is fruit bearing so I won’t disclose its particular street-side location). And to complete the south of the borough, there are the Ginkgo in the Chelsea Physic Garden (dreadfully stinky when in fruit!) and Melia azedarach or what I was taught to know as a "Syringa" tree during my apprenticeship in central Africa rather than the Mediterranean from whence the species originate.

In the north of the Royal Borough, apart from an Australian Nettle Tree, Celtis australis, that excites the attention of colleagues who specialised in that flora, there’s also an extremely rare Ash – Fraxinus angustifolia ‘Veltheimii’ - in Little Wormwood Scrubs. This noble tree with its almost nonchalant wind-tossed branchlets is one of only a very few known to be planted in the United Kingdom and is of particular interest to myself on account of what appear to be saddle grafting scars. Saddle grafting is a now unusual technique where the already rooted host plant is “beheaded” and the resultant “stock” stem sharpened to a point. The “scion” (or plant being grafted onto it) is cut straight across and then has its base hollowed to take point of the stock - a bit like saddling a horse! A tight binding of grafting tape (and a great deal of luck in my experience) ensures a successful union and eventually strongly grafted plant. It is a great shame that this sort of nursery skill is both in short supply and rarely practiced as greater dependence is placed upon plants imported from around the world rather than grown at home. Is this the price of progress,

Holland Park probably has one of the most concentrated and diverse collections of trees of any corner of the borough. This worthy tradition is maintained – and protected - by the park management and Friends of Holland Park and is entirely in keeping with the original landowners’ various plantings of trees in what was once little more than open field. To be successfully appreciated such a treasure requires a reliable guide and this can be done either by accompanying the Friends on an organised tree walk (contact the Ecology Centre for further details) or by the purchasing of the recently launched guide produced by the Friends: Some Notable Trees of Holland Park – A Walk. Copies can be obtained from the Park Reception office which is open each day.

Later this year in Holland Park the Royal Borough's staff will be moving a number of Red Oak trees from their current positions beside the sports field to provide them and those remaining with more space in which to spread their branches. The equipment used for such an exercise is massive and operationally extremely technical, but this will ensure that future generations will be able to sit or lie on their backs underneath their shade and look up at blue sky breaking through the branches – just as Ann Frank did, and in whose memory a chestnut now stands on the opposite side of the sports field. It’s not just what trees symbolise … it’s that they are life that makes them so important.

The "flute" player here is one of the Japanese gardeners who visit the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park every few years to repair their handiwork.