FIXES

To prevent scratches or catching, top of railing post is covered with glove secured with rubber band.

Material: Rubber Band, Glove
Location: Tachikawa, Tokyo

PET bottles (soft drink and shochu) filled with water secure a store banner and stabilise promotional flags.

Materials: Pet Bottle, Plastic Twine
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

Seedlings protected from urban predators with netting supported by pet bottles filled with water.

Materials: Netting, Pet Bottles
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

Pegs/Clips stored along streetside gate.

Materials: Gate
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

A medium size potted bamboo plant is secured to a breeze block and signpost with a long length of plastic twine (one key item in the urban gardener’s arsenal).

What is the function of this construction? Is it a security device – being of just enough nuisance to discourage late-night strollers from lightheartedly taking it home (It is easy pickings for any determined thief)?. Is it a stabilizing defense against high-winds? Or, does it simply prevent the pot from falling/being bumped over in its precarious position?

(First published on Tokyo DIY Gardening)

Materials: Plastic Rope/Twine, Breeze Block, Signpost
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

Bike lock used to secure ladder stored on roadside.

Materials: Bike Lock
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

An interesting space-saving variation on the curbside/wall garden.

A thin plank of wood rests on top of a wire fence and is secured in place with wire and string tied to the guttering and drainpipes. Extra safety is added through a long plastic gardening rod which acts as a railing along the front of the garden. Precarious yet thoughtful, this construction does not intrude into the narrow thoroughfare any further than the curb line.

Simple and non-intrusive, and the perfect height for passing pedestrians to enjoy.

Materials: Wire, String, Plank of Wood, Plastic Garden Rod
Location: Nakano, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening)

Simply constructed tomato garden – collection of standard plastic covered metal rods used for gardening. The rods pierce the old corrugated plastic awning to stabilize the structure.

Materials: Plastic Stake
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening)

Washbasin created with a short hose attached to the tap with wire and tape and secured at the correct level with wire twisted around a screw.

Materials: Wire, Electrical Tape
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

Pipe parts and odds and ends are threaded with wire for easy storage within close reach/view.

Materials: Wire
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

On an innner-Sendagaya street lies this colourful curbside garden. Another lovely example of a local resident taking the time to brighten up a lonely curbside.

What made this particular garden stand out is the fact that it is composed entirely of plants still in their garden center pots and plastic containers.

One would imagine that the plants would grow better repotted directly into the ground, but perhaps the existing soil is of too-poor quality to allow this. An alternative explanation might be that this is the gardener’s compromise between a ‘potscape‘ and a full-blown regular garden – less intrusive than a whole lot of pots on the sidewalk, while still retaining the flexible, temporary feel of most Tokyo pot-plant gardens…..possibly repotting the plants felt like too much of a brash appropriation for the gardener involved….. (in the last image you can see one plant finally breaking (being set?) free of its contraints – I wonder how long it will last in the ‘real world’)

Any other ideas?

Materials: Potplants
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening)

A railway sleeper positioned on top of two smaller pieces of wood forms an elegant and function bench in a Sendagaya park.

Materials: Railway Sleeper, Wood
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

A railway sleeper attached to two circular pieces of wood by a large building staple creates a simple, elegant and functional bench in a Sendagaya park.

Materials: Railway Sleeper, Wood, Building Staple
Location: Sendagaya, Tokyo

Simple and effective use of a 100 Yen laundry net to protect seedlings from insects, birds and whatever other dangerous elements the street may bring.

This solution is a great illustration of the inventive and strongly practical use/reuse of a familiar and cheap mass-produced item in urban gardening.

Materials: Laundry Net
Location: Nakano, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening)

Along the narrow no-man’s-land between the railway track fencing and the road there is just enough space for residents of the house that lies directly opposite to create an asagao (morning glory) garden.

Constructed of plastic/metal gardening rods, bamboo and plastic twine this simple 3m x 1.5m (approx.) construction provides the right amount of support for the plants to climb and bloom. I like that the seed packet has been left at the base of the plant to let pedestrians know what is growing (or maybe it is a reminder to the gardener).

This is a great example of the affordable, productive, and enjoyable appropriation of unused/unusable space that is characteristic of Tokyo DIY gardening.

Materials: Plastic Stake, Bamboo, Plastic Twine
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening)

Sheets of plastic are used to signal which classes of product/service are available (alcohol, photocopying, delivery service) and not (tobacco, ATM). The lightbox signage gives a translucent effect to the sheets so that while it is clear that the product/service is not available now we know what to expect soon.

Materials: Plastic Sheets
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

Plastic bamboo poles and netting are used to add height to a playground/creche fence to help prevent loose soccer shots from straying onto the road.




Materials: Netting, Plastic Pole
Location: Tachikawa, Tokyo

This pocket garden perched on a residential fence is home to two healthy seedlings. The planter is constructed from an astroturf off-cut attached to the trellis fence with thin wire.

A simple and effective use of waste material.

Materials: Wire, Astroturf
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo DIY Gardening)

Fishing spot fashioned by cutting through chainlink fence (entry) and repeated trips (pathway).

Materials: Wire Cutters
Location: Fussa, Tokyo

A large scale foundation for creeping greens constructed from simple materials – netting, plastic twine, and plastic rods. Coming up to, and through, the summer the climbers should take over this frame, creating shade and privacy in the summer months (like a living sudare (簾:すだれ)).

Materials: Netting, Plastic Twine, Plastic Rods
Location: Kokubunji, Tokyo