Raked Sand Garden in West Sedona

Raked Sand Garden in West Sedona

Just finished an Asian inspired garden for a backyard landscape renovation in West Sedona. The client had a large backyard with a lot of trees mostly evergreen conifers and several fruit trees. The rest of the land was dying grass and weeds, so it was a good starting point since it was nearly a half acre to work with.

She wanted a “Japanese Garden” but not the traditional style you would typically see with a pond, bridge, lanterns, etc. So it was a bit of a challenge for me to design it with an Asian influence, yet not obviously Asian. Hence I call it an Asian inspired garden rather than a type of Japanese garden.

My basic concept was to create a strolling garden making use of the large area so as to make the garden conducive to experiencing within rather than simply viewing it from the back porch. And since she wanted to have some grass, I created a large island of plantings around which the grass would symbolize a lake.

I also incorporated a Karesansui garden (dry Zen garden) of raked sand and boulders to contrast the otherwise “wet” strolling garden and make it a destination for the pathway. As a transition from the existing fence enclosed patio, I designed a Torii gate which has its own symbolism of separating heaven and earth or man and spirit.

This is not the first Asian inspired garden I have designed and built in Sedona. In fact there are several others I have yet to blog about. Each property and client is unique, so each Asian inspired garden is not the same, however, I do use several common elements that help to give it that Asian influence.

An Asian inspired garden not only consists of elements that are visually evident, but the unseen elements or symbolism that creates a subtle influence. The re-creation of the natural environment using earth, stone and water is the essence of a Japanese or Chinese garden. Variations on the basic theme are how the different styles came about. However, when Buddhism was brought to Japan from China, Buddhist principles were weaved into the early gardens. I have written about these different styles of Asian gardens as well as what constitutes a “Spiritual Garden”.

You can also view before and after pictures of this project at my Fliker page.