Why The North Carolina Arboretum

Why The North Carolina Arboretum’s Bonsai Garden Will Not Be A Japanese Garden

The fact that bonsai originated in the Far East, bears a Japanese name and has long been presented in the West as an “ancient oriental art” makes for many Westerners the phrase “bonsai garden” synonymous with “Japanese garden.”

Re-examining assumptions
In looking at the roots of bonsai as a horticultural practice, however, we discovered that the art of “bonsai” could be reduced to the essentials of a person, a plant and an expression of nature. In fact, many of the Asian associations with bonsai -- the Japanese terminology, the Zen-mystical trappings, the dragons on the pots -- these things, though colorful, are superfluous and not integral to bonsai. Bonsai can be done with Southern Appalachian plants, represent Southern Appalachian nature and be thought about and spoken of in English, even with a Southern Appalachian accent. The North Carolina Arboretum’s mission and vision statements both make a point of extolling our relationship with the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Bonsai for us is no exception.

Taking this concept one step further, it should be noted that there is little use in freeing something from the confines of a restrictive idea, only to place it within the confines of another restrictive idea. The North Carolina Arboretum’s bonsai collection does contain many plants native to the Southern Appalachians; however, it also features many Asian plants and plants from Europe and other parts of the world. The Arboretum takes advantage of the full range of plant species available to it in this part of the world, at this time in history. It respects the tradition of bonsai, which does come out of the Far East but makes bonsai relevant by applying it to its own experience in this part of the world, at this time in history.

What is a Japanese garden?
The truth is that few people can give a clear, articulate definition of what a Japanese garden is. For most people, the defining characteristic of a Japanese garden is the inclusion of certain culturally identifiable embellishments, like: a teahouse, koi pond, bamboo fencing, and, particularly, a stone lantern. There are many gardens, however, which feature one or all of these things and are referred to as Japanese gardens, that aren’t Japanese gardens at all. Some people identify a Japanese garden as an expanse of gravel or pebbles with a design raked into it, accented with a larger stone or two. This notion comes from the Zen garden concept, which is but one particular kind of garden that can be found in Japan.

A more accurate definition might be that a Japanese garden is a designed space, usually utilizing some combination of plants and stone, whose organization is based upon concepts derived from the Japanese aesthetic and philosophy of the relationship between man and nature. No wonder so few people have a handle on it! It is much easier to put a stone lantern in the middle of some plants, or rake a bed of gravel, and say, “This is my Japanese garden.”

Designing a bonsai garden in the Appalachians
The North Carolina Arboretum’s Bonsai Garden is a designed space. It does utilize a combination of plant and stone. But the organization of these things is only partially derived from the Japanese aesthetic, and what little bit of Japanese philosophy it might include will be invisible to all but a very few.

When it came time to design a garden setting in which to display the Arboretum’s bonsai collection, the old stereotypes were quickly disposed of. The starting point of the design process was recognition of the fact that we were not building a Japanese garden. There would not be a teahouse, koi pond or bamboo fencing. We were careful, however, not to put our design team in a situation where anything relating to the Far East was to be expressly avoided. In fact, the Arboretum purposely selected an authentic Japanese garden designer, one trained and certified in Japan, to be on the design team. This seeming contradiction was actually an intentional effort to insure that the garden we built would be something at once new and different, but legitimately grounded in tradition.

The plant palette for the Arboretum’s Bonsai Garden may at first glance cause some to think of it as being Japanese, because a majority of the plants used are Asian in origin. However, there are many American plants included in the design, particularly Southern Appalachian species, as well as some that are European in origin. Just as with the bonsai collection, there is no justification for being restrictive in the kind of plant material we use in the garden based on cultural prejudices of any sort. The fact is that the majority of cultivated plants used for landscaping in our region of the country are derived from Asian species. In choosing plant material for our Bonsai Garden, our main criteria were: suitability of plant to site; suitability of plant to design; and diversifying the Arboretum’s overall plant palette.

Seeing is Believing
Ultimately, people may mistake the Arboretum’s Bonsai Garden for being Japanese mostly because they haven’t seen it yet. When they do, they will see the Western-style architecture of the pavilion, the deck and the garden walls; they will see the Western aesthetic that informs the Southern Appalachian Mountain motif of the ironwork; they will see the intermingling of plant species from a variety of temperate parts of the world and they will note that these plants are not as meticulously clipped as they are in Japanese gardens; and they will see that the garden is surrounded by a landscape that not only evokes the Southern Appalachians, it is the Southern Appalachians.