Asian Infusion
Sometimes inspiration can be found close to home. But for Joan and Gary Cunningham, it was a faraway land that would seal the fate of their Vancouver Island, British Columbia, garden. “We had somewhat of a vision of what we were going to do, but a trip to Japan made it all very clear,” says Joan, who was influenced by Marc P. Keane, a prominent garden designer and author of Japanese Garden Design, among other books. “I had always been interested in Japanese gardens and I had taken ikebana for many years. Japanese gardens have a very special feeling. They are just so magical and peaceful that you think, I could stay here for a while.”
When Joan met Julie Moir Messervy—a distinguished landscape designer, author, and speaker—at a convention, everything came together. “I was trying too hard to replicate what I had seen in Japan,” Joan recounts, “and she told me, ‘It’s your garden and your environment and you have a different climate. Take the freedom to do what you want to design.’ Once she said that, it was easy.”
Joan was able to capture the right essence, while taking their location into consideration. “It’s a woodland garden that belongs in British Columbia but has elements of Japanese gardens. You can’t just put a Japanese garden in the middle of anywhere,” says Joan, who explains that the size of the property (about an acre and a third) allowed them to create a stroll garden, one that has numerous paths that allow for leisurely walks throughout the property. “We worked with this land and the way it was.”
Though their labor of love has taken two decades of hard work and determination, it was their daughter’s request to hold her wedding reception in the garden that pushed Joan and Gary to the finish line. Trees that had seen better days were taken away because they were more than one hundred feet tall and were blocking the light. “It was quite a shock when they came down,” says Joan. “The backyard looked like a moonscape.”
The land already had numerous Douglas fir, which they left standing at the back of the property “for those pesky deer,” Joan says. “But now there is a fence so they have their area and we have ours.” The two native dogwood trees needed to stay, while a few Japanese maples and Mt. Fuji cherry trees were added to the mix. Other plantings include rhododendrons, azaleas, and boxwood, as well as mosses and ferns.
Japanese gardens are not intended to happen overnight. “You have to find all of the objects,” Joan says. “You can’t just bring in a landscaper who buys a few plants and plunks them down.” The unique features must be sought out and they need the look of age and patina. Many of the materials were recycled, like the sandstone, granite, and shingles.
Joan credits her husband with his knack for finding things and his ability to do heavy lifting. She took on the design aspect, and they did most of the work themselves. A friend built the teahouse and helped with the pavilion, while her husband built the fencing and gates. The bridge and sandstone patio were built for them. “For years we hauled in rock, soil, gravel, and plants,” Joan says. “Things kind of came out of necessity as we went along.”
They particularly enjoy the azumaya, or sitting teahouse, by the pond. “I like to sit there and have a cup of tea,” Joan says. Even when they had 125 people for their daughter’s wedding reception, the garden didn’t seem full, she says. The same can be said for the garden tours they’ve participated in that bring as many as 1,200 visitors in two days.
“Some people expect very manicured gardens. This is a little relaxed and somewhere in the middle,” Joan says. “It’s all about line and form as opposed to flowering plants.” Larger plant materials work best in this type of environment. As for the palette, it’s mostly varying shades of green because Joan finds too much color to be a bit “noisy,” she says. “It loses the peace and tranquility.”
There is some required maintenance in the fall and spring but not as much in the summer. “It’s mainly pruning,” Joan says. When they entertain in the evening, the trees come to life with white paper lanterns that provide added light. Decorative objects, such as Japanese-style lanterns, lend visual interest. A water feature, called a tsukubai, consists of a bowl with a bamboo pipe.
The greenhouse-turned-pavilion became a bar area for the wedding reception. The deck is used for entertaining, while the patio areas provide extra space. A bridge and a dry stream were included along with a variety of benches that are strategically placed throughout the garden.
All their efforts paid off in the end. “If we had done it in a rush, we would have settled for a second-best tree and a second-best rock. We got to seek out exactly what we were looking for,” says Joan, who believes the twenty-year project taught them patience. “It wouldn’t be our garden if we had other people doing everything. It’s very personal to us.”
