Japanese Inspiration

Summer has finally come to us and today reached 35 degrees. Since it is too hot to actually garden and I am still recovering from Christmas I decided to drag my husband to the Himeji Japanese garden in Adelaide City. This has been on my wish list for more than twelve months and it was well worth the wait. I have really come to treasure these times when nature prevents me from physically working in the garden. It is a great time to rest, research, reenergise, gain perspective, find inspiration and even pat ourselves on the back or just enjoy the garden for itself. So off to the Japanese gardens for inspiration I went.

The Himeji gardens are tucked away from the hussle and bussle of the city on South Tce. As you enter the temple like gatehouse you are struck by a sense of peace, calm and tranquility. We weaved our way along paths, past lanterns, deer scarers, a tea house, sea of sand and a stunning lake. I decided I must come back one day, stay for a really long time and really soak up the garden. I was excited to see that many of the same plants and elements were already present in my own mini Japanese garden.

I am now determined to include water of some kind and maybe one or two fish (Himeji had hundreds of massive goldfish). Maybe I will move my zen water feature to the garden and perhaps a conifer or two- maybe not as well shaped as theirs. I certainly have a clear vision and understanding of the feeling I want to create in my garden. I wish I lived around the corner from Himeji garden. I would be going to meditate every day but I suppose the next best thing is to keep trying to create a little piece of this in my own garden.