Wrapping up for the Winter

One of the resolutions I made when I began on the garden at Yewbarrow House was that I wouldn’t give any winter protection to any plant which could be seen from the house.  My reasoning was that plants which are wrapped are ugly and it would be a shame to ruin the view of the garden with unsightly wrapping.  I’m afraid this resolution hasn’t held.  Before I set out for Japan I gave instructions for the tree ferns to be given some winter protection- not wanting to lose them all for the second time, if the weather turns out to be bad yet again.
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​I can be reasonably sanguine about this change of heart because of the lessons I’ve learnt from Japan.  There’s a good example here, in the gardens at Chinzan-so, in Tokyo.  I was fascinated to watch these workmen today, as they began to wrap some sculpted pines.  It’s a work of art in itself, and won’t look at all horrid when the snows come.