July Begins 2025

The arrival of July always confirms to me that summer is well and truly here and this year it certainly is.

The sun has been shining and we’ve had some really warm days in June so hopefully this will continue into this month too.

The garden has been growing and everything has been sending out new shoots so pruning has been on the agenda for the gardeners over the last few weeks and will continue to be a big part of their daily workload for the next few months.

It always amazes me how fast the plants grow at this time of year. The mixture of sunshine and warmth together with days of rain just act like rocket fuel and we see bamboo growing literally by the day together with Japanese maples and all of other plants suddenly expanding.

Japanese gardens typically celebrate the beauty in the simplicity of a single object; not only a lone plant or sculpture; but also the space around it. That space allows the viewer to appreciate its form and individual beauty. When the space gets crowded with plant growth or too many other objects; the simplicity of the form is lost.

So this time of year can be very challenging to keep the growth under control to allow the space to remain. But we try our best!

I personally love the summer with the warm temperatures, radiating sunshine (more than any other time of year at least) and the energy in the garden has a higher frequency somehow.

Maybe its the birds so busy singing and zooming past to feed their babies or the dragonflies often seen buzzing around the pond or just seeing the Koi carp gliding around the warm water of their pond; but whatever the reason there is a feeling of animation and productivity in the garden during the summer and its a very positive feeling.

Check out my photos from my visit yesterday – pictured below –