Features to Expect in a Japanese Garden
24.07.2023 - 12:14 / hgic.clemson.edu
A lot of attention recently has been on periodical cicadas, which are coming out of the ground after 17 years across parts of the Southeast and much of the Mid-Atlantic region. However, another insect is about to come out of the ground in South Carolina too, and this one is not just a novelty – it can completely defoliate many plants in your yard. That’s right, folks, it’s almost Japanese beetle season!
Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) are native to Japan but have been in the U.S. for over a century. Although they are most common in the eastern part of the country, they are found in nearly every state and some parts of Canada. Adults are about 1/3 to ½ inch long with a metallic green head and bronze wing covers. There are five white patches along the side of the abdomen.
Most of the Japanese beetle lifecycle is spent underground. Adults lay eggs in the soil, usually in grassy areas, during mid-summer. From the eggs, grubs hatch and feed on the roots of grasses and other plants, eventually growing up to an inch long by the following spring. Feeding damage from the grubs can sometimes cause brown patches in turf. Grubs pupate in the soil, and adults emerge shortly thereafter and crawl to the surface, where they begin feeding and mating. Adults feed on the leaves of over 300 host plants, including trees, shrubs, and landscape and garden plants. Feeding damage can completely defoliate plants, causing trees and shrubs to look like they’re nearly dead. Populations seem to oscillate, meaning they go up and down and are higher in some years than others. This is likely due to weather patterns as well as a fungus that can kill some of the grubs while they’re underground.
Unfortunately, options are limited when it comes to
Features to Expect in a Japanese Garden
The Japanese poetic work, ‘Manyoshu’ published in 759 AD but written 300-400 years prior selected 7 flowers for Autumn. This corresponds to the 7 Herbs of spring reported on an earlier post.
Ornamental Japanese Maples are widely available for planting in your garden. The autumn colouring makes these trees spectacular when planted en mass in a woodland or Japanese garden setting.
Despite my garden being full to overflowing after the spring rain I have decided to create a new area for a Japanese Garden. When starting a new project I was advised to have a name that may colour the end result. I opted for the grand title of ‘Japan Land’Â This will be a long term project and I won’t rush it as I have on other projects in the past.
London Holland Park’s water feature in Kyoto Garden.
The Japanese have a long and detailed affair with fruit tree blossom. Apricots, Prunus armenaica and Plums, Prunus salicina are well known to western gardeners but what of Mumes.
Japanese maple or Acer palmatum are popular trees and small shrubs. They are grown for an attractive habit and dramatic foliage.
Read Japanese Maple root and branch review
My ‘Samurai garden’ is a small homage to a full blown Japanese garden. I was attracted to Japanese gardens when I attended a talk at our local garden society. (They are often good events to pick up tips or special plants. I belong to a couple but only attend if there is something of interest.) After starting on my project I was surprised how many Japanese gardens there were to visit or spot when walking around.
Holland Park has some Zen like features but fails my Zen test. The classic elements of a successful Zen are stone, sand or gravel, water, plants and space. Then there is a question of balance between yin and yang. Cramped or cluttered gardens inhibit the flow of spirit so space is potentially the key ingredient of a Zen garden.
Japanese camellias (Camellia japonica) are one of the most recognized evergreen shrubs planted in Southern gardens. As the common name implies, these beauties are native to the Orient. The first ones were introduced to South Carolina by a Frenchman, André Michaux, who was a botanist to King Louis XVI. Michaux developed the first botanical garden in the South near Charleston in 1786. He shared his camellias with his neighbor, Henry Middleton, who started his landscaped gardens at Middleton Place in 1741. One of the original plants survives at Middleton today, a beautiful double red camellia ‘Reine des Fleurs’ (Queen of Flowers).
The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB; Anoplophora glabripennis) is not easy to miss – adults of this large, black beetle with white spots, black and white striped antennae, and blueish feet are between 1 and 1 ½” long (Fig. 1). ALB larvae are equally striking as the large, white segmented larvae can be nearly 2” in length (Fig. 2). Established populations in the U.S. are found in Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio, and a new infestation was recently found in Charleston County, South Carolina.