 Hello, welcome back to my Japanese garden, it's January. I knew year and it's a bit cold, not as cold as where I was in Japan and Seoul. It was down to minus 11 there. And I noticed out there that they cover everything up, especially in Seoul. So all the lanterns get covered up with straw. Really elegantly. I took some photos when I was over there. And then I in, where else were we? In the Kenazawa, there were wrapping trees and putting ropes up to hold the branches up under the heavy snow. Not needed here, just, you know, greasy jackets to keep me warm. It's time to look at the garden with new eyes, having put the garden in a couple years ago, going back to Japan and taking, paying close attention to what they've done. And there are a few ideas for some changes. Now I've never been completely happy with this bamboo, but I'm giving it a year or two and see how it goes. What I'm trying to do is get this linear structure going, but I'm not sure whether it works yet. So it's been in here to stop it drooping and tidy it up there. Just strip out the leaves and actually I'm going to thin this out some more. And then we'll see what it, what comes of it. There was a lovely house in Harajuku in Tokyo. And they've got just a few bamboo canes and really compact top. So I'm wondering whether I can try that this year. But we'll see how it goes. This stuff just grows, so it's fine. And it doesn't work and take it out and put it somewhere else that will be fine. So let's just give it another year to see what we can do. Well, I'm quite glad I was bossy with these plants. Look, it's a bit kind of work. You see, I've taken out most of it, about 60%, 70%. And just left a few of these straight canes. I've given some support to some of them because they're starting to come over. But already it's looking quite good. Now trim the tops. I'm not going to go up because it's too bright. It's too sunny. You can't see. So I've just taken the tops off of these. Hopefully they're going to bush up. Already it looks more structural. It looks more interesting. It's a bit like the ones I saw in Japan. I'm very pleased with that. And it would be afraid to be bossy with your plants. Especially things like this, dogs. They'll grow back to make a mistake. It's going quite well. I've taken a lot off the bottom of trees and shrubs and things. And already it's making a difference. It's creating space around here. It's making you look at the plants and enjoy them more. It seems less scruffy down a ground level. I'd say I've done a barely quarter of the garden. Sorry to take you back an hour. On to things like the cherry tree I'm going to leave. I'm looking forward to that in spring. Oh yes. The Japanese and enemies. I have a whole bed of an enemies here. And walking the back streets of Kenazawa. And I saw a single plant amongst everything else. It was just having a single plant. It made so much difference. So I am reconsidering all this. Taking out lots of them. And just having a single focus. Sometimes simplicity is the key. What else? The willow is looking really good. Structurally over winter. It's great in spring and summer. It's just cascades of leaves. But I'd rather like to stay in the veronica. As had its day, it's going to come out. I won't move that. I'm looking forward to the magnolia coming out. You can see the buds in the sunshine. It's rather nice. I've got to move the dogwood. It was just in place because I wanted to have something there. But it's just in a long place. The trees I've got to check out. I think the apples and pears are looking reasonably okay. I'm just going to check for dead wood. Everyone else is going on the grass. This one's just brilliant luck. This has been good all late summer, winter, and structurally starting to go. It's all looking good. I'm going to finish up here. And I think that's for one day, one morning. Hang on, one more thing. Surprising things. I forgot about these. I'm planning to let a snow drops on the mound. Tell me something interesting for spring and luck. I've got the first flower coming up. Not near the top, so hopefully. I have something interesting here for spring. I just wanted something ephemeral. We'll come back to that in a few weeks and see how it goes. It's first year, so it's not going to be lots and lots of colors. Lots and lots of flowers right there. The promise of spring is coming. Thanks for joining me. We'll see you next time. Let's get out of the sun. Hopefully we'll be less jet lag tomorrow.