Go Native 70 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Yeah tubs the amount of snow would just break, bend or knock over most fences unless they're reinforced concrete. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Yeah tubs the amount of snow would just break, bend or knock over most fences unless they're reinforced concrete. I wondered about that Link to post Share on other sites
JellyBelly 1 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I get the feeling though that even in non snow areas, people don't seem as fussed about fences here. Perhaps it's the general lack of fuss over gardens and/or cost. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 My dad is a keen gardener, or was, and when he came to Japan he commented on the lack of nice gardens. In private homes anyway. Nice gardens don't seem to be as important here as to lots of Brits for example. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Could be. Where I used to live in Shonan, it was because the houses were so tightly packed that few had any gardens Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 There's that too yeah. I have a few friends though that have decent pieces of land but it's all a bit of a mess. Back home it'd be a lovely lawn, trees flowers and nicely landscaped. Can't think of (m)any nicely done gardens around where I live even places with a bit of space. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Yeah....I always feel gardens are wasted here. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 As with their houses, Japan people could do more with their gardens. Some of it will be driven by houses losing value so quickly. There's no need for them to go up crazily as in the anglo countries, but going down so quickly just means people try to avoid spending much money on them. A nicer environment = higher quality of life, so it does matter. If you're putting a garden in, weeds grow way faster in Japan than the UK. The climate is far more tropical. While you can grow lawns, they are hard work and the most lush types of grass aren't very happy at Japan temperatures, especially at sea level. Japanese grass is resistant to heat but is scratchy to feel and goes brown in winter. Just look at any golf course at this time of year. Our garden is coming along and gives us lots of pleasure. We eat outside I guess getting on for a hundred times a year. To do that, you need shade. It's too hot a lot of the time otherwise. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I've noticed that about grass over here.....pretty shit.....but hokkaido is different. Much more like home. Nice lush grass in the parks, Odori Koen in Sapporo is a great place to laze out on the grass and sup a beer during summer time Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Perhaps some folk here can't be bothered when it's covered in snow for 5 months too. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Interesting points all. They did explain to us about grass and how it was different type to what you'll see in UK etc. Basically a no show in winter. But did stress that if you look after it, it can be nice - just needs quite a lot of care. Got to admit that I feel a bit a hole now where the house planning was last year. Kind of wanting to get back to busy with this. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 You can get western grass too in Japan. Most people use American varieties, some of which are more lush and deep coloured than what you normally see in Britain. It just doesn't do well if you live in a hotter area. Western grass stays green all winter, even under snow. It feels much nicer to lie on than Japanese grass. Japanese grass has an advantage however in that you can buy kill everything but the grass weedkiller. I haven't seen that kind of product for western grass in Japan. We had a lawn put in but the guy did the absolute minimum to put it in and it died a couple of years later. We were away for a week and I couldn't water it. Most online sources say grass should have a bed that's 15cm plus deep, but the guy didn't bother and its more like 2cm. He just threw a tiny bit of sand on top of the compacted gravel the builders did to stop the mud after the house was built. In hindsight, I did well to keep it alive as long. Anyway, I'll hire a digger and get the old boy to dig it up properly when we get some money. Link to post Share on other sites
best skier in hakuba 5 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Another reason to get it planned sooner than later ------- consumption tax rise on 1st April. If you officially order things before then, presumably the pre-rise charge? Don't know how these things work. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 You know what, I really hadn't thought about that much. And a very good point to. Will be sure to ask about that when I get these plans, hopefully incoming soon. How does the tax thing work for things that are ordered and contracts signed? Or do the purchases have to be 'delivered'? Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I don't know for different industries but when we were looking at different car companies we were told that simply ordering (and even paying for) a car before the tax rise did not mean we would get the pre-rise price. It actually eliminated several of the cars I was looking at because there was a waiting list for them. The final price was calculated by when we received the car. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Interesting. Will be keen to hear how that works re: gardens. If all goes well, I can see us perhaps being able to agree a price and sign a contract before 1st April. But obviously won't be able to have a garden that soon! Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I'd be interested in seeing what happens as well. Most likely the landscaping companies will be buying all of their supplies after the increase so they would try to protect themselves again that. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 I will be sure to let you know how that goes. Makes me wish I had started the processs a bit earlier now. Won't get my hopes up at all though as it all seems way too tight considering. Can't complain I suppose, I was rather busy until late in the year and our house is pretty much fully kitted out, so got all of that lot in before any increase. Link to post Share on other sites
xxx 2 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I reckon you might be a bit too late realistically. They will very probably give you a before consumption tax estimate, lots of the catalogue prices as like that. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
tokabochi 9 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I'd love a garden. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Haven't got the initial plans yet, but I gave the companies a call and asked them about the tax situation. Yappari, it will be 8%. We won't even be able to begin making the garden until April at the earliest so finishing it at the earliest will be May perhaps later. So 8%, even if we agree what we want and sign a contract before April 1st. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 My wife is going around the house listing all the things we should buy before the tax hike......a lot of stuff we don't even need.... .....just call me Mr. Moneybags.... Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hey you Mr Moneybags.... has she had a quote on Chriselle 2 done? Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Due to severe neglect......she'd take too much of a loss on the trade in. So, no...no new Chriselle model this year. Not that I can be sure she hasn't taken a few new models out for test drives.... Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Well, I jolly well hope and belive that she hasn't. Link to post Share on other sites
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