The "sea"

     Almost all public Japanese gardens, in Japan and elsewhere, have a small area of raked gravel or sand.  Its purpose is to represent waves on a sea, with rocks and vegetation representing islands.  I used pea gravel when I constructed mine some 20 years ago.

 

Spring is here--I think.

Note: I would like to ask a favor of those who visit my blog.  Because I cannot tell how many of my "visits" are real people or "bots" (computer-driven searches), please leave me a comment (such as, "real person," also telling me what country you live in--no name required).  Thank you for your help.

   I must be careful.  On May 10, 1990 I had nine inches of heavy snow, which destroyed many of my trees, as their leaves were fully formed.  Fingers crossed!  I live in SE Wisconsin.  When living in Madison in 1966, the area had a hard frost in low spots--on July 2nd.  That was absurd!

   This area is on the back left side of my backyard.  In 2019 I reduced the size of the lawn by a third, allowing me to build perennial gardens on all sides.  I am still tweaking the plantings.  The main plant shown here, with yellow flowers, is Lamiastrum galebdolon, or Yellow Archangel.  It requires mostly shade to deep shade, and it vigorously spreads by stolons.  It takes diligence to keep it under control.

   The stones are quarried sandstones from the late 1800s that were used in the streets of Milwaukee.  I collected 3000 of them, free of charge (but lots of work and hauling!).

The bridge

   Note: My gardens will be open to the public on Saturday, July 31st, from 8-4.  The Garden Conservancy is sponsoring the event, and they charge $10.  One must register with them before the tour at: www.thegardenconservancy.org.  They will open registration sometime in May.  I live near Waukesha, WI about 20 miles southwest of Milwaukee.  

   I built this bridge in my Japanese-style garden in 2001.  I rebuilt it last fall, but I still must replace the two boards on the sides.  A pump recirculates the water from the small pond to a small waterfall about ten feet behind the bridge.  Moss grows on the rocks surrounding the pond, as they are constantly damp or wet.  The red stems are called setae, and they hold the spore capsules until they dry and open to release the spores.

 

Through the window

   These photos were taken from inside the house looking towards the Japanese Garden.   The tree to the left of the bridge is a Cercidiphyllum japonicum, or Katsuratree.

 

The middle of the Japanese Garden

    These photos were taken in the middle part of the Japanese Garden.  The mounds are covered with several species of moss.  In Japan, every one of the 65 temple gardens I visited has extensive areas of cultivated moss.

 

The azumayi

     Virtually all Japanese gardens have tiny structures with open fronts for the purpose of viewing the gardens.  The name for them in Japanese is azumayi.   I built one in my Japanese-style garden in 2014.  The walls are of stucco.  The lighting fixture was designed by me way back in 1980.

      

     

 

On to the Japanese Garden

Note: There will not be another post until late March, as I will be touring the Deep South (hopefully viewing lots of gardens.) 

   The final major garden featured in this long series of posts on my gardens is the Japanese Garden.  I started to develop it in 2000--and, of course, I am still not done.

   The first photo is of the west entrance to the garden along a path that is going downhill.  The fence was built in 2013.  It is made of ipe, a wood from Brazil, which is extremely dense, hard, and resistant to insects or other damaging items.  I oil it every spring with rosewood oil, rosewood being another tropical tree.  Hidden in the boxwood on the left is a rock shown in full in the second photo.  It had been broken in half very long ago, probably when it was brought down from what is now Canada by the last glacier.  I found it in a road ditch a quarter mile from my house.  Water flows into it from a bamboo pipe, which then flows down a natural crack, then over its side and into the ground under it.

   The third and fourth photos show the view just inside the gate, looking east through the upper part of the garden, which was developed about 2010.  There are several areas of moss, in addition to some containers of moss, throughout this area.  I visited over 60 temple gardens in Japan, and everyone has cultivated areas of moss.

   The next three photos show the azumaya, or "viewing house."  Such houses are common in Japanese gardens.  I built it myself in 2014, the inside walls constructed of stucco.   Also seen in these photos is a small stream I made, sourced with water from my well.  It is forced through bamboo pipes in three separate water drops into small pools. The water then continues downhill to where it empties onto the ground amongst a grouping of boxwoods.