Asian Garden at Riverbanks Botanical Garden

Riverbanks Botanical Garden in Columbia, South Carolina is home to a new Asian Garden among its many themed gardens.

Columbia Ikebana International Chapter 182 contributed funds to the garden to memorialize founding and deceased club members. An initial donation for one Japanese maple burgeoned into an entirely new Asian garden.

Ikebana club officers met with Andy Cabe, curator of horticulture at Riverbanks, to initiate planning. Cabe and his design team transformed a ‚”no man’s land” of impervious clay into a cool, serene, contemplative outdoor-living space.

Trilogy of Essential Natural Elements

Lead designer, Brian Francis, drew up the design plan which balances and blends the trilogy of essential natural elements for an Asian garden: stone, water and plants. The blended result of these three elements gives the feeling of living close to nature.

Stones in the form of rocks, cobbles, and various types of gravel and sand are selected to symbolize meanings. Rocks are selected for their particular use in the landscape and may be used singly or in odd-numbered combinations.

Water as an element in an Asian garden may appear either real in a pond, stream, or waterfall, or implied by the arrangement of rocks, gravel and sometimes a bridge or boardwalk. The pond at Riverbanks provides a continual flow of soothing sound. Water spills out of rock portholes into a rock-rimmed pool.

In an Asian garden, plants, the third essential element, must blend in with the surroundings. Oriental plants like slow-growing evergreens contrasted with lacy Japanese maple or a stand of clumping bamboo are now popular items in American gardens too. Professional plant hunters know Asia is a hotbed for introducing new plants to the world.

The three natural elements are arranged to achieve an asymmetrical composition with respect to size, number, shape, and texture.

Man-made Elements

To the pleasing composition of the three natural elements, the Asian garden has added a few man-made elements: benches for conversation or contemplation, a stone lantern, ornate gates against a Chinese red wall, a boardwalk, and a crane sculpture. These finishing touches make the garden more enjoyable and useable. Shaded seating areas allow visitors to observe interesting plants, listen to the soothing sounds of water and wind, and find a private retreat in which to experience tranquility within the natural world.

The Asian garden will continue to grow and change in various lights, weathers, and seasons. Its positive spirit and ongoing evolution is captured in the anonymous quote on a bench overlooking the pond, ‚”Remember Yesterday, Celebrate Today, and Imagine Tomorrow.”

Visitor’s Guide to Plants in Garden

• Japanese maple – Acer palmatum
• Mimosa – Albizia julibrissin ‘Fine Wine’
• Juniperus chinensis ‘Torulosa’
• Juniperus chinensis ‘Parsonii’
• Bamboo – Bambusa multiplex ‘Alphonse Karr’
• Wild ginger – Asarum magnificum
• Solomon’s seal – Polygonatum odoratum var. thunbergii ‘Variegatum’
• Cast iron plant – Aspidistra elatior ‘Hoshi-zora’
• Chinese wingnut tree – Pterocarya stenoptera
• Hornbeam tree – Carpinus fargesii
• Weigela – Weigela florida
• Variegated ginger lilies – Alpinia zerumbet
• Surprise Lily – Lycoris squamigera