Gardener’s View

It’s autumn. Once again, it’s that time of year when we pluck the needles on the pine trees. At the end of November, the old pine needles that grew in the spring of the previous year begin to fade and turn brown by winter. This makes for an unpleasant sight and so we pluck all old needles by hand before they turn brown. Work starts at the top of the tree and moves down to the lower branches. At Murin-an, the hardest pine tree to care for is the one whose branches hang down prominently in front of the tea house. This is due to its widely spread branches and the meticulous attention demanded by the fact that the tree lies so close to the garden path and teahouse used by our visitors. The work is done by expert gardeners and still takes roughly four days.
But a pine tree whose needles have been plucked so that each one of its branches looks freshly neatened feels good no matter when you look at it. In this way, preparations to greet the new year begin while it is still autumn each year.