Japanese Garden Restoration Work

We’re doing some restoration work on the Japanese Garden at the moment. Work started about 5 weeks ago on the ‘four eyed’ fence by taking out the old, rotten posts which had been in for the last ten years and have had some recent wind damage. This involved taking out half the fence around the garden and putting in new posts ready to rebuild the bamboo fence.

The bamboo was ordered from Japan and came in a crate overseas to Southampton, then shipped to Liverpool and then delivered by lorry to Tatton. Making the ‘four eyed’ fence is the trickiest bit as you have to get the bamboo perfectly level on rocky ground and knock them into shape with a rubber mallet. The fence is called ‘four eyed’ because when it’s complete you can see four eyes staring back at you!

The next stage, probably next week, is to tie the Japanese knots to fasten the bamboo to the fence. The knots are a skill in themselves but it’s also important to get the tension right as they tighten and shrink after the rain. The rope (which has also come from Japan) is soaked in a bucket overnight and then is tied on wet.

After this we’ll be putting in three new gates within the four eyed fence. We hope to have the garden perfectly restored by the end of April when Professor Fukuhara comes from Japan for our Japanese Garden centenary celebrations. The Professor advised on the restoration of the garden about 10 years ago.

The photo shows me at work on the fence!

Geoff Horrocks, Craftsman Gardener