NORTHWEST ORIENTAL GARDEN
(Click on the appropriate hyperlinks to see pictures of the project.)
I have always admired oriental gardens, so when I decided we needed a garden that was designed as a garden first and a plant collection second, the oriental design popped into my mind.
When we went to the Farwest Nursery Trade Show in Portland, Oregon and found a wholesale supplier of granite statuary from China, we decided the time was right. The first year involved preparing the ground for the garden. It was done with a giant backhoe. Trees were removed, the land was graded, and it was set up with two levels.
The second year we focused on rock work. I purchased 40-50 tons of black basalt from an Olympia quarry to construct two walls. I wanted black rock to display the plants. I had recalled what Alphonso Ossorio had once told me. He painted his house (The Creeks Estate in Easthampton, Long Island) black with white trim to better show off the conifers that surrounded it.
A black rock wall with a mid-terrace was constructed between the two levels. My Kubota and good friend Bill Havens were able to complete this project.
Dave Baird of Fairie Gardens in Tumwater was visiting one day and offered to help me complete the top slope of the upper level. He arranged for 40 tons of gray granite to be delivered and set up a time with a small contractor who works with rock using a small excavator and bobcat. In one day we had a great start on the bank. Bill and I finished it a day later. There was considerable rock remaining, the contractor did great work, so I decided to finish this bank, have 40 more tons of rock delivered, and clear an acre+ at the bottom of our property to develop a rock garden.
Before doing that however, I constructed a black basalt, inset wall in the center of the slope for a focal area.
PHOTOGRAPHS DURING CONSTRUCTION
Year three saw the first plantings and the placement of the statuary. I planted mostly Asian plant species with just a few European species on the upper bank. Pinus parviflora cultivars are used to provide mass to parts of the garden. I removed the central leaders and will be extensively pruning them into a windswept appearance. I planted a pair of Styrax japonica 'Emerald Pagoda' to remind me of my friend, J. C. Raulston, who passed away at much too young an age.
The statuary consisted of granite benches, a granite bridge, granite light posts, several granite lanterns, seven happy buddahs carved out of the same black and white granite, and a pair of granite phoo lions looking over the gardens.
Year four turned out to be the final year of the project. We finished the plantings with an assortment of azaleas and species rhododendrons, mulching with ground fir bark, and the completion of the water feature consisting of a granite millstones fountain that empties into a steep stream bed that becomes more gradual as it flows under the granite bridge and then continues down to a waterfall in the lower rock garden.
The paths are not yet surfaced. I am planning to turn the soil sour and develop an extensive moss surface for nice walking.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE FINISHED GARDEN
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