LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Waterfront Botanical Gardens officially broke ground on Thursday with Louisville’s first public, authentic Japanese garden designed by landscape designer, Shiro Nakane.
Officials said the $22 million, 2-acre park will be completed over the course of 24 months, with craftsmen from Japan meticulously constructing elements of the garden.
Officials added that the garden will include a traditional Japanese Tea House, designed to introduce the Japanese tea ceremony, one of the most prestigious and symbolic rituals in Japanese culture.
Additionally planned for the Japanese garden is a summer house, a Zen garden and a zig zag bridge over a small lake. The Cornelian cherry tree, a type of flowering dogwood, will be featured in a few areas of the garden.
A spokesperson for the Waterfront Botanical Gardens said the Japanese garden will sit on land just north of the current Graeser Family Education Center.
“The apparent admiration and esteem enjoyed by the Japanese garden throughout the world is presumably attributable to the recognition of its universal artistic merits, which transcend all racial, religious and cultural differences,” Nakane said.
The garden will also include a bonsai garden, with 24 trees -- donated by the late Tommy McCurry, past president of the Greater Louisville Bonsai Society-- and an additional 6 trees donated by the Chicago Botanic Garden.
For more information about the Waterfront Botanical Gardens or the Japanese garden, please click here.
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