Japanese Hill and Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanical gardens in New York
I have just returned from a brief holiday to New York and was fortunate enough to visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens whilst I was there. It is a stunning place with a fabulous Japanese Hill and Pond Garden which is considered to be the masterpiece of Japanese landscape designer Takeo Shiota.
Japanese Hill and Pond Garden
It was first opened to the public in 1915 and contains a shrine dedicated to the Shinto god as well as lanterns, stones, bridges and other wonderful architectural elements. In addition to a fine collection of Japanese flowering cherries and tree peonies with the grounds, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens has the C.V Starr Bonsai Museum which is currently hosting the McCormack bonsai collection. One tree history that stood out was at the entrance and was Fudo the Sargent Juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii.
Sargent Juniper
According to the sign next to the tree, legend has it that this tree, already with many centuries of life behind it, was removed from its mountain home above the Itokawa river by an old man, Tahei, in 1858.
Sargent Juniper sketch
It eventually became part of the famous collection of the world-renowned bonsaiman, Mr Kyuzo Murata, in Omiya, Japan. Sadly, the tree died in 1971, some months after arriving from Japan. As a conservative estimate of its age, arrived at by counting its annual growth rings, ‘Fudo’ lived some 800 years.
The whole exhibit was excellent and the museum was renovated in 2005 and provides an ideal setting to view the bonsai trees on display. Here is a selection of the trees from the collection.
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- Acer buergerianum root over rock style approximately 82 years in 2000 and a gift from Mr and Mrs Howard Phipps, Sr.
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- Acer buergerianum root over rock style which was a gift from Stanley Chinn who also developed the tree
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- Acer buergerianum root over rock style approximately 28 years old in 2000 and a gift from Stanley Chinn
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- Acer buergerianum clump style approximately 19 years old in 2000 and a gift from Stanley Chinn
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- Displaying bonsai
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- Acer palmatum
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- Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’ in memory of Salli Gillar
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- Acer palmatum ‘Kamagata’ informal upright style
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- Acer palmatum spp. matsumurae slant style
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- Ampelopsis brevipedunculata cascade style
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- Bonsai on display at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
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- Bonsai on display at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
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- Carpinus turczaninovii forest style
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- Ginkgo biloba
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- Ilex serrata informal upright style and approx 69 years old in 2000
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- Japanese Hill and Pond Garden
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- Japanese Hill and Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanical gardens in New York
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- Juniper chinensis ‘Torulosa’ semi cascade style
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- Juniper chinesis var. sargentii root over rock style
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- Juniperus cascade style
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- Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii
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- Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii cascade style
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- Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii driftwood style
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- Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii slant style
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- Juniperus conferta ‘ Blue Pacific’
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- Juniperus horizontalis
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- Juniperus on rock
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- Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’
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- Juniperus root over rock style
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- Malus literarti style
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- McCormack bonsai collection at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in New York
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- Parthenocissus quinquefolia
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- Pinus mugo
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- Pinus nigra
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- Pinus parviflora Japanese White Pine informal upright sytle and approximately 277 years old in 2000 and a gift from Mr & Mrs Howard Phipps, Sr
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- Pinus parviflora informal upright style
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- Saikei
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- Sargent Juniper
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- Sargent Juniper sketch
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- Ulmus alata
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- Ulmus parvifolia ‘Sempervirens’ twin trunk style
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- Zelkova serrata forest style
For more information around the history of bonsai at the gardens and to see other trees that have been on display at the museum visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens website.
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