When you think of water, what are the initial words you use to illustrate it? Most of us would say peaceful or relaxing. The gentle sounds of flowing water and its soothing sight is such a pleasure to everyone. Adding one or more fountains to your garden, whether outdoor or indoor, gives a more relaxing […]

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Bonsai is greatly regarded as an icon of Japanese art and culture. “Bonsai” is a Japanese pronunciation of the earlier Chinese term penzai. Here the “bon” is a tray-like pot typically used in bonsai culture and “sai” means a planting or plantings). The word bonsai is often used in English as an umbrella term for […]

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When designing a deck and landscape project we decided to incorporate a half wall and planter to create and define space and circulation. We also wanted to have a sculptural focal point within the planter. The planter also sat right where an old light post was removed during the demolition phase of our project. So, […]

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The snow viewing, or yukimi, style Japanese lantern is a wonderful lantern. This lantern received its name from the cap, or roof, of the piece that is much broader than other lantern styles. This cap is either round, hexagon or octagon in shape and because of its size looks quite pretty after snow fall. This […]

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The Kasuga style Japanese lantern is a classic.  Today it is often found at or near the entrance of Japanese gardens.  Dating back to the Ashikaga period it was traditionally used as a “guardian” lantern in Japanese temples.  When not used near a garden entrance it serves as a focal point like the one shown […]

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The Oribe Japanese lantern is a post  style lantern.  This means that the bottom is like a post and set into the ground.  The stone lantern is named after Lord Furuta Oribe, for whom the design was originally created for.  This style is often found in todays japanese gardens adjacent to tsukubai water basin feature. […]

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This garden entrance is flanked with a pair of beautifully carved limetsone shigu.  Shigu is actually a Chinese word used to describe the type of sculpture shown in the picture.  Although the bases are actually unfinished the detailed carving of the dragons, foo dog heads and the phoenix or mythical fire birds.  These decorative stone […]

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Granite water features like this polished black millstone fountain bring beauty and personality to any garden.  People are attracted to water, just the soothing sound alone releases energy into the air.  There are a number of sculptural choices to set on the top of these types of water features.  There is a plastic prefabricated basin […]

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This a great piece in one of our garden projects. We found this hand carved granite statue in Asia, were we fell in love with it and found a home for it here in Minnesota. It was pretty much ignored, neglected and almost lost, although not ancient, it was probably carved about 40-50 years ago. […]

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The “Inner garden” is just one of the outdoor rooms within this landscape design / build project, located in Shorewood, Minnesota. This Japanese styled garden is one that allows visitors to stroll through the garden, much like a Japanese stroll, or hill & pond garden […]

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