japanese garden rotation - wk 2

My second rotation finds me back in the Japanese Garden - but this time with the lovely Jeremy who is managing this section of the bot gardens now along with Kath who is anouther full time Hort and helping us out in here today. Also with us is Daniel who is another Cert II student Hort. On the job list today is some serious mulching. Jeremy has prepared a mix of compost and composted pine bark for us to apply once the beds are cleared, prepared and ready to go.

Buckets of needle litter come out from under this tree.

Some of the beds have already been cleared by Jeremy and Daniel, so first thing is to clear the remaining ones many of which have a thick carpet of leaf and pine needle litter that has built up and will start to act as a water repellant if we don't clear the majority of it away before adding the fresh mulch.

Mt Fuji the second.

'Mt Fuji' becomes the new home for all our needle litter. This will help suppress any weeds that want to pop up here. Although you would think they would have trouble growing in the snow?

Blood and Bone.
ps. once started you smell like it for the rest of the day!

My next job is to spread some blood and bone on the bare soil to act as an activation layer before the compost/mulch layer is applied. I did question the reason for fertilising in the middle of winter but Kath and Jeremy both stress that ideally the best time to fertilise is in Spring and Autumn, but due to the size of this garden and the amounts of beds to get around the work has to begin now.

Finished bed looking good.

When the compost layer goes on (by the many numerous barrow loads) we rake it out to a layer depth of around 2 inches. Careful attention goes to removing the mulch from around the base of the shrubs stems to avoid rot and build up. Mulching is of course very important to retain moisture in the soil, suppress weeds and in this case (depending on your mix) provide some nutrients and organic matter back into the soil.

Final job of the day is using the blower to tidy up the paths from gravel and spilt mulch. This is my first time on the blower and Kath runs me through the correct pre-start checks and the operation. It is a fairly easy machine to start and use - earmuffs and eye protection are a must. Also found I needed to pay attention to changing arms regularly to distribute the weight and not cover the air intake. I spend a bit of time with this machine and find it quite hypnotic to use and ended up quite pleased with my accuracy in moving the tiniest bit of mulch back into the bed without disturbing the rest. 

Last up I mulch the entrance bed at the top gates and give the white gravel a lovely rake to rid it of footprints and any other anti-zen disturbance. All in all a great first day of my second rotation in this beautiful section of the gardens. I think I am going to really enjoy tagging along with Jeremy and Kath and soaking it all up.