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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Thanks to the wonderful fall weather we have had our Japanese garden project is taking shape.  This garden features a Koi pond, extensive boulder work, pathways, sitting areas and of course lush plantings scheduled to be installed spring 2012.  The pond is currently shut down and ready for winter, but once the leaves have fallen […]

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Niwa Design Studio applies its knowledge of Japanese garden design principles to a Frank Lloyd Wright home near Still Water,Minnesota.  Niwa’s client, who owned an original Frank Lloyd Wright house plan, hired an architect to help interpret the plan and construct the home on the shores of a Minnesota lake.  The mountain scene entry garden […]

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There are several different types of pathways used in Japanese and other garden types.  Here in one of our garden project in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, we used a tobishi style path as a short cut off of the main gravel pathway.  The tobishi stepping stones in this case are hand carved limestone pads which […]

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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 […]

Posted in Asian Gardens, Entry Monuments, Garden Art, Garden Types, Landscape, Paths, Sculpture, Stairs, Stonework No Comments »

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 stonework in this project contains many Japanese garden principles.  One of which can be seen in the photo,  of a three stone ishigumi arrangement, which has a primary viewing point from the great room of the house through a sliding glass door. Ishigumi, also known as iwagumi, is the art of installing stones into a […]

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Our local governments love it when we think “Green” and incorporating a Rain Water Garden into a project is doing just that. Traditional Rain Water Gardens can look great if planed and maintained properly. These gardens are typically planted with flowering plants that can withstand a lot of water. Since we specialize in Japanese Gardens […]

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