Hi there.
I am currently working in a different place than usual because our office is being renovated. This year, five years after I had joined the company, I noticed for the first time that there was crepe myrtle in our garden. I had never been able to see any of the crepe myrtle flowers from the office where I had been. This summer, I am happy that I can see the bright pink of the flowers from the window. It is called "百日紅" (meaning "one hundred days deep red" in Japanese) because it continues to bloom for as long as 100 days. As the name suggests, it will surely delight me for a whole summer.
Summer Garden Maintenance for Obon Holiday
Every summer we get so busy. Along with the landscape construction work, we have a lot of garden maintenance that needs to be done by the Obon holidays. We get many requests for maintenance before the Obon as they want to welcome their family back home with a beautiful garden. We schedule in advance for our clients who request the maintenance every year, but we always end up with a busy schedule during summer.
When pruning a tree, we look at the condition of each and every branch. For example, when pruning pine trees, we first prune them to shape with shears, then pick off each bud and adjust the number of leaves. Leaving more leaves on the lower branches makes the pine look well-balanced. It is a very time-consuming process, but a carefully pruned pine tree will look stunning.
When cutting branches, we imagine how the tree will grow in the years to come. When leaving a small bud, we think about how this bud will grow and which branch to remove to preserve the beautiful flow of the trunk. Pruning is a more detailed and delicate job than it looks. It is hard to get the work done in this heat, but in the evening, when it is a little cooler, it is pleasant to see the neat appearance of the garden.
Busy summer is almost over. I hope that by the time this blog is published, the work will have come to an end. Everyone in the company is very busy on site this time of year, but let's work hard on the remaining pruning so that we can have a nice Obon holiday.
I hope you all take care of yourselves and above all, stay hydrated!