Ju Raku En - The Toowoomba Japanese Gardens

[PeterW]

The garden is called Ju Raku En, roughly translated means "to enjoy peace and longevity in a public place"
They are located on Campus at the USQ and jointly owned between the USQ and the Toowoomba City Council. The designer of the garden was Professor Kinsaku Nakane of Kyoto. The Gardens take up a 4.5 hectare site. It contains about 230 species of Japanese and Australian Native trees and plants, it has about 3 kilometes of paths, streams and a waterfall. All the large rocks in Ju Raku En were accurately placed so as to appear naturally dispersed in a random way. It is more then just a group of rocks stitched together by water and artificially created hills and forests, it is actually a presentation of Buddhist paradise with the celestial sea (the lake) lapping the rocky shores of the three Islands where the imortals are said to dwell. The material world is the outer edge of the lake and a symbolic journey to paradise may be made by crossing one of the four bridges to the islands. The plan for Ju Raku En and the design for the community building and the tea house were prepared in Japan after site analysis and intensive background studies were carried out. The construction of the gardens started in 1983 after 3 years of planning. They were opened to the public on the 21st of April 1989.
The following pictures were taken in June 2006. I hope you enjoy them as much as i enjoyed my visit there, it truly is a peaceful spot.
Regards,
Peter.

[anttal63]

a great design concept and story. the garden is beautiful thanks for sharing peter.

[Steven]

Great pic's and post Peter, thanks mate!
Some pretty good JB Pines developing there. Do you know who built the garden or who the head gardner is now?
Thanks,
Steven

[PeterW]

Great pic's and post Peter, thanks mate!
Some pretty good JB Pines developing there. Do you know who built the garden or who the head gardner is now?
Thanks,
Steven

Thanks Ant and Steven, glad you enjoyed.
I dont know who provides the upkeep of the gardens but i would assume that it would be a combined effort between the two owners and maybe some interested volunteer type groups. I dont know who actually put it together but like all constructions and developments of this nature, its usually the designer/Architect that builds it in an office first and the hired help comes in with the muscle and builds it to the plans.
Regards
Peter.

[mudlarkpottery]

It loks really beautiful, Peter. Do you know what size those pines were when they were planted there?
Penny.

[PeterW]

Hi Penny, no sorry i dont have any idea of there size when planted but i would imagine that they would have been a reasonable size to start with. They pretty much grow like weeds when planted in the ground!
Peter

[Hector Johnson]

There's a Black Pine in Queens Garden, Toowoomba, that is about 75cm through the trunk and about 15 metres tall. I was thinking of collecting it but I chickened out when I realised I didn't have a pot big enough.

I love going to the Toowoomba garden. It's a magic spot for a picnic lunch. I have photos of my kids lying in a drift of vivid gold leaves that have fallen from one of the Gingko specimens there.