A pond with a Summer House and Garden around it! I was asked to create a space at this homeowner’s pond that would bring people down to hang out. Since the owner is a builder, I developed concept drawings for the Summer House based loosely on a Japanese Tea House, and he built a beautiful custom structure. In summer he can slide open huge doors and the house is open almost completely on two sides. The garden is based on the Japanese Stroll Garden style, and includes two arched bridges, a boardwalk across a wet meadow, stone benches for pausing, and a mix of Japanese Maples and native shrubs and ground covers.
The starting point was this lovely pond.
Same view after the Summer House and Garden were built.
Take a stroll through the garden:
Creek alongside the Summer House.
Acer palmmatum ‘Watnong’ and cloud-pruned Scotts Pine.
The Summer House. Notice there are no posts holding up that 8′ overhanging roof. The steel truss system is a work of art. The corners of the building are 14″ square oak posts held together with a laminated beam.
View through the Meadow to the bridge to the island with a sculpture beyond by Dana Gingris. titled “Graviton”.
The Garden Entrance Gate with Pinus densiflora ‘Umbraculifera’ and Acer palmatum ‘Arakawa’ and the Meadow beyond the gate.
Through the Entrance Gate looking right toward the Summer House.
Through the Entrance Gate looking left toward the top end of the pond.
Stone planks interrupt the gravel at points of interest along the way. Here, the slabs are placed at a stone bench.
Bridge to the Island. The Island is planted with Taxodium distichum ‘Cascade Falls’, Acer palmatum ‘Red Dragon’, and Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Glauca Pendula’ (not shown) as well as native ferns and rushes at the margins.
In the center of the Island, stones are laid in the pattern of the Japanese symbol for water.
Another place to stop and look at the Water Stones that lead to the Meadow. Tsuga canadensis ‘Cole’s Prostrate’ is placed next to a sitting stone.
Kids love crossing the pond on the Water Stones.
The path leading back the Summer House. To the right of the path is Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Glauca Pendula’ and behind that in the planter box is Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’.
View back down the same path.
And we’re back at the Summer House.
Click this link if you’d like to see an overview of the building of the Summer House and Garden. Summer House Garden 10-14
One parting shot of the Meadow four years after planting with the Monarda in bloom.
