DIY Japanese Garden

Heavy lifting done by Philip, Tony and Brandon

Last summer, my husband and I were debating what to do with our backyard. When we moved in nearly three years ago we knew we didn’t want to tackle the backyard right away. I spent many nights, up late at night, scouring Pinterest (addicting I tell you!) for fresh ideas for our future space.

We decided that we would take out all the grass (big water save) and remove a lot of the existing concrete-it was just a giant sea of concrete that really had no purpose. We wanted to create a back yard that reflected the simple character that our Craftsman style home has. Having a love for the simple, Japanese aesthetic, we followed our hearts and decided on a traditional Japanese garden.Truthfully, we modified our plans over and over again. Do you know how many different kinds of gravel there are? Researching which bamboo is not going to be invasive…and so on and so on. After 6 looooooong months of working on our project (literally every weekend) it’s completed! We are so pleased with how it has turned out. We just hosted a baby shower with 40 people over and it is a wonderful place to have a party! Now that it’s finally Summer, were hosting a movie night with friends!

Japanese Gardens 101

Karesansui Garden in Pasadena, California at Huntington Library and Botanical Garden

Karesansui Garden in San Diego, California at Japanese Friendship Garden

Pathway- notice the different shapes, sizes, textures. This is the designers way of controlling the visitor’s experience.

Common feature in Japanese Gardens: bridges

Pond stocked with koi. Notice the asymmetry of the rocks in the pond

This water basin is for visitors to wash their hands and refresh before entering the tea house.

Gorgeous Japanese Maple with red foliage

Often large ponds like these will include an island.

One of my favorite aesthetics of Japanese design is in the garden. In a traditional Japanese garden, design emphasis is placed on the balance of yin/yang, harmony, mystery, and meaning. Here are some of the fundamentals in Japanese landscape design:

1 Gravel or sand- “Karesansui”-which in Japanese, translates as “dry mountain water”. This style of landscape is meant to be viewed but never entered- except for raking and maintenance purposes.

2 Rocks- Each selected as a work of art and it’s shape, color, texture, and character are carefully considered.

3 Plants- The seasons dictate which plants to use. Each plant is selected for its leaf colors, bark, stems- even branch pattern. Asymmetry is the goal.

4 Water- Represents change. It represents impermanence: it flows. A stream, pond, lake or even just a simple granite water basin creates ambient sound that’s conductive to meditation.

5 Paths- Paths are meant to guide you through the garden and are constructed in such a way that a visitor must move carefully and slowly through the garden.

2013 Obon Festival

These Bon Odori dancers were so talented!

My husband and I participating in Bon Odori dances

Over the weekend we traveled to beautiful San Diego to celebrate this years Obon Festival. Obon is a yearly Buddhist tradition of celebrating the lives of departed ancestors. While associated with Buddhism, Obon is celebrated and embraced by all, regardless of one’s religious background.

Held at the San Diego Buddhist Temple, we had the opportunity to participate in Bon Odori (folk dances). Bon Odori are easy, rhythmic, repetitive dances which are performed in a circle. Each movement in the dances have a special significance such as digging, threshing wheat and so on. We had never danced Bon Odori before so we joined in the circle of people and imitated what they were doing. It was so fun! One dance we did with both the American and Japanese flag. Everyone had their own set of flags and we did our best to try and keep up!

During our visit many were dressed in yukata (light, traditional summer kimono) or happi coat (short kimono-style top). You can see from the pictures how beautiful the yukatas and obi belts are.

Visiting an Obon festival means lots of yummy things to eat! They had things like yakitori (grilled, skewered chicken), sushi, and wasabi burgers. For dessert they served taiyaki (a Japanese fish-shaped cake filled with a red bean paste made from sweetened azuki beans).

For entertainment they had several different taiko (drumming) groups perform. If you have never seen taiko live, it’s a wonderful thing to experience. The sound is so powerful it really gets you at your core.

It was a great afternoon experiencing the San Diego Obon Festival. Everyone was having a great time. People young and old, Japanese and non-Japanese all shared in the festivities. I’m so glad my family got to experience it.

I thought this was a great quote from the San Diego Buddhist Temple of San Diego’s website. “Our tradition teaches us that just as rain falls on all vegetation, so Buddha’s compassion extends to all people.” It really was a day extended to all.

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