Japanese Garden

Japanese Garden. . , Through this gate you enter the nationally recognized Japanese Garden, a place for quiet enjoyment of natural beauty. The Dooleys added their Japanese Garden, an intimate area around the waterfall, when a fascination with Japan was sweeping the country. They employed a Japanese garden master in 1912, believed to be Y. Muto who planned the other East Coast landscapes, to design their garden., The waterfall, created during the Dooleys' time as a dramatic backdrop for the garden, plunges 45 feet over the rock outcropping of a former granite quarry. Two stone lanterns and the artful arrangement of stones also remain from the original garden. The rustic pavilion on the waterfall ledge is a reconstruction. The winding stream was crossed by an earthen bridge and emptied into a large pond formed from a turning basin of the Kanawha Canal., Japanese Garden Renovation , The Japanese Garden was renovated and enlarged in the late 1970s according to plans by Barry Starke of Earth Design Inc. through funding of Ikebana of Richmond, Inc. and other sources. The original garden encompassed a much smaller area, and after decades of deterioration, it had lost much of its original splendor and detail., While preserving the core of the Dooleys' garden, the renovation added many new elements. It now represents a Japanese stroll garden in which a system of paths and a variety of design features offer changing impressions of nature. It is intended to convey a contemplative mood. Look for these elements:,

❖ Handcrafted Entrance Gates, ❖ Dry Pool with sand patterns, stones, and a large Japanese maple planted in the Dooleys' time, ❖ Hill Garden, a moss-covered "landscape in miniature" with a narrow winding stream crossed by an Earthen Bridge, ❖ Pond with an island overlooked by an azumaya, a small rustic pavilion., ❖ Koi, colorful Japanese carp, swimming through the pond, ❖ Stone groupings arranged throughout the garden, ❖ A variety of bridges , Moon Bridge, Plank Bridge, Earthen Bridge, and Stepping Stones , encouraging visitors to slow their pace as they stroll the garden

, [Caption:] , (Right) The water supply for the waterfall is pumped up the hill from the Kanawha Canal, and so, the ability to run the waterfall is dependent on the level of water in the canal. Normally, the waterfall is in full operation from early April through early November., Old Pump House , Designed by Noland and Baskerville, this building housed gasoline-powered pump that originally moved water from the pond (below) to the Water Tower to supply the waterfall, fountains, and cascade., The Grotto , The Grotto is a rare example in America of an unusual type of landscape feature that originated in ancient Rome. Grottoes were intended as cave-like places to contemplate the hidden aspects of nature. Water from a spring in the hillside above was channeled to drip down the walls that are encrusted with cave formations. Stone lions, based on sculptures by the Italian artist Antonio Canova, flank the opening. The Grotto is linked thematically with the Italian Garden. It was completed in 1912, decades before the Japanese Garden was extended into the area.