The Houston Japanese Garden

Unofficially, or as an amateur, I study Japanese gardens.  So recently, my family and I took the short trek down to the Houston Japanese Gardens.  In a small relatively unknown section of Herman Park stands the gardens and its ponds. I wanted to get a first hand look at the various techniques used. 

Near the entrance to the garden is this wonderful lantern.  While I could be wrong, I believe that this lantern is called an Arata or an Kasuga. They were initially used in gardens to help guide people to a tea ceremony.  Notice the thick bamboo.

As we proceed into the garden you notice an old walkway where natural powerful stone is used. Take not that one usually never sees straight lines in a Japanese garden.  This is because there are rarely straight lines in nature.

Tucked behind a large grove of Azaleas is this Crepe Myrtle.  Visitors to the Houston area will notice that Crepe Myrtles are an abundant tree where the bark is particularly beautiful and unique. However, this Crepe Myrtle has been trained.  It's branches spread out and grow into a unique style.

In some form or another, real or representative, water is a must in any Japanese garden. Here at the Houston Japanese garden the turtle filled pond is bordered by large boulders, beautifully shaped trees and groves of wonderful bushes.  Notice the building in the back ground, a common occurrence in gardens on finds in Japan.

Probably one of my favorite pictures from my short visit, this photo captures the tea house in background where a mirror image of the garden is displayed on the pond.  In the foreground, one gets a view of the Crepe Myrtles, round bushes and the ever present stone.

The ever present pine tree, accompanied by three large stones.  Notice the number three.  This is a typical technique used in the Japanese garden. Odd numbers appears more natural.

My visit to this particular garden was positive.  However, I didn't notice many trees that where trained in the traditional Japanese garden tree style.