Five Japanese gardens in the Minnesota area will take center stage as the North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA) goes to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” on August 7 to 8 for its first regional event of the year.
“It’s All in the Details” is a two-day skills development workshop and garden education tour featuring the following gardens: Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, St. Paul MN; Jo-Ryo-En (Garden of Quiet Listening) at Carleton College, Northfield, MN; Normandale Japanese Garden at Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN; Seisui Tei (Garden of Pure Water) at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN, and a private residential garden in St. Paul, MN attached to a Modernist house designed by American architect Ralph Rapson in the 1960s.
“Attention to detail is perhaps the most important thing in elevating
gardens in America to the lofty level of those in Japan,” says NAJGA
President Dr. Kendall Brown. “We are pleased to provide an experience
that meaningfully connects Minnesota’s most compelling Japanese gardens
to each other and to the large audience of Japanese garden lovers across
North America.”
Skills Development Workshop
On August 7, the Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden will host
a workshop focused on teaching basic skills required of a Japanese
gardener in constructing and maintaining a garden. It will also teach
participants how to establish specific goals that enhance the
presentation of a Japanese garden.
Sessions include shearing of karikomi (massed or wave planting), deciduous tree pruning, pine maintenance, layout and installation of tobi-ishi (stepping stones) and nobedan (stone paving), and working with bamboo to create the basic nanako fence that keeps guests on the path, and the yotsume gaki fence used in tea ceremony gardens.
Participants
will also be introduced to design theory, construction and maintenance
of the Japanese tea garden and teahouse. After the workshop,
participants will also have a rare opportunity to visit the private
garden attached to the Ralph Rapson-designed house in St. Paul, MN. The
house and garden provide a good example of the sukiya living concept where Japanese garden principles are applied in a residential setting and rooms are integrated with the garden.
The workshop will be led by Japanese garden expert John Powell, the
first Westerner selected to train with the garden staff of the
prestigious Adachi Museum of Art, widely acknowledged as having one of
the world’s best Japanese gardens. Other garden experts from the region
and across North America will assist.
Garden Education Tour: Japanese Gardens in the North Star State
On August 8, a bus tour will visit the Jo-Ryo-en (Garden of Quiet Listening) at Carleton College, Normandale Japanese Garden, and the Seisui Tei (Garden of Pure Water) at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
Four distinct styles of Japanese gardens—hill and pond, dry
landscape, stroll garden, and pleasure boating garden—will be examined
in three Minnesota gardens adapted to the local climate through plant
choice and design. Care of Japanese gardens will be covered. Guests will
also be introduced to issues of garden care, and how gardens “care” for
people when utilized for therapy and meditation.
This two-day event is also open to the general public. For more details and to register, visit the event website HERE. Or contact NAJGA at info@najga.org, tel: (503) 222 1194.
