Inspired by gardens in Kyoto, the garden was donated to the university in 1965 by Edward W. Carter, then Chairman of the Regents of the University of California. The garden is enjoyed by campus departments, school groups, garden clubs, horticulturists, architects and artists, to name a few. It is located on Bellagio Road. The garden was created in 1961 by Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Guiberson in memory of his mother, Ethel L. Guiberson, organizer of the Beverly Hills Garden Club. The Guibersons studied many Japanese gardens, including the most famous ones in Kyoto. They engaged Nagao Sakurai, a leading architect, to design it. Major structures in the garden - the main gate, teahouse, bridges, and shrine - were built in Japan and reassembled here by Japanese artisans. Key symbolic rocks were shipped from Japan and antique stone carvings and water basins were imported. In addition, specially selected local stones were incorporated throughout the garden, including 400 tons of lichen-covered dark brown stone from Santa Paula Canyon in Ventura County. Except for the old native coast live oaks, which predate the garden, nearly all the trees and plants belong to species that are grown in Japan. Extensive reconstruction was supervised by Professor Koichi Kawana and supported by Friends of the UCLA Gardens after the garden was seriously damaged by the floods of 1969. A map of the Gardens is available, and complete reservation information is available on the UCLA Web site, from which this article was taken. |
UCLA Japanese Garden |
