There are 4 Japanese gardens in Minnesota: Como Ordway Memorial Japanese Garden, Carleton College, U’s Arboretum, Normandale community College
Carleton, COMJG, Arboretum, Normandale
A Japanese garden is not born overnight- they take shape over decades and adapt to the space
Sustainable design includes regular contact with the designer, if possible, to make sure the garden still is meeting his vision
We learned the hard way during construction to use local landscapers- the oiriginal pond was with a CA construction company and was cracked and not holding water after 2 winters; redone in 1980 with local assistance and Matsuda
Reduce runoff, no pesticides used because can harm koi
1905 postcard of first Japanese garden at Como Park; lanterns from 1904 world’s fair
Reused 1904 lanterns, broken lotus bud top, so the designer found a rock that worked to cap the lantern
Borrowed scenery- looks much larger than it is, as it uses trees and shrubs that are farther away to give scale and depth
Como composts all the plant materials from the garden to be used throughout the park
Japanese maple cannot handle our winters so we use korean maples for he brilliant color
Moss too hard to grown in Minnesota so we often use Irish moss
Cherry blossoms vs redbud and crabapple blossoms
Bamboo for fencing, bamboo grows 24 inches in a day in some locations
Como’s rocks are from local quarries in Chaska and Rosemount
Bloomington has close connections with their city council and Normandale College COMJG has strong sister city partnership Carleton has endowments All use volunteers extensively to do maintenance
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