Hidden among the busy streets of Tokyo, Japan, lies the Nezu Museum. Previously known as the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, this museum features the private collection of Japanese artist Nezu Kaichirō and was first opened in 1941, one year after Nezu’s death. In addition to the prized collection found inside the museum’s newly-renovated building, visitors can also enjoy the grounds’ breathtaking Japanese-style garden, which showcases some amazing landscape design.

The History of the Nezu Museum Gardens

The land on which the Nezu Museum sits was purchased by Nezu Kaichirō in 1906. Nezu fell in love with the area’s terrain, particularly its hills and dales. During World War II, the garden and the museum grounds were burned during bombings in May of 1945; however, the collection itself remained safe in storage, and was put back on display in 1946. Since then, the garden and grounds have been restored one small area at a time, with modern renovation efforts focusing on improving the garden’s accessibility for visitors.

The Goal of the Nezu Museum Gardens

The Nezu Museum gardens are meant to provide visitors with a natural urban oasis in the middle of Japan’s busiest modern city. Inside the garden, the traditional Japanese landscaping design aims to create small scenes that depict the beauty and serenity of nature as it changes through the seasons. As visitors wander the stone-paved paths, they can enjoy not only the verdant plants, but the grounds’ beautiful teahouses, stone lanterns, and two ponds as well.

The design of your landscapte should complement the design of your home and suit the function you want your yard to serve. An experienced landscape design company can make any landscaping project proceed smoothly and ensure you get the finished landscape you desire. When hiring a landscape design company to undertake this project, it’s important to ask a few vital questions to assess whether the landscape designers you’re considering are the right fit for you.

Evaluate Communication Skills

Communication skills are vital to maintain a positive relationship with your landscape design company, regardless of the scope and scale of your planned landscaping project. Clear communication shows that your landscape designer respects your opinions, your budget, and your time. Thus, it’s important to choose a landscape designer that responds to your communications and queries within a reasonable amount of time, answers your questions thoroughly, and treats you respectfully and professionally during both phone and in-person conversations.  

Look at Experience

Experience is a valuable trait in the field of landscape design. Before choosing a landscape design company, ask about their experience with the type of property you own, whether you are landscaping your home or your commercial property. If you have a pool or other special considerations, ask whether they have dealt with landscape designs that incorporate these features as well. Finally, ask to see a portfolio of past work so you can get an idea of your landscape designer’s style and ability level. Seeing your landscaper’s work for yourself is one of the best ways to determine whether the designs a company creates mesh with your needs and your personal style preferences.

Santa Rita Landscaping has been proudly serving the Tucson area since 1985. Our services include custom residential landscape design and commercial landscape maintenance; we can take on projects of any size and scope to ensure you get the personalized results you’re after. Please stop by our website to learn more about us and our dedication to top-quality landscaping services, or call (520) 623-0421 to discuss your next project.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Roberto Burle Marx was a renowned artist and landscape architect who achieved fame throughout his life for his appealing park and garden designs. In addition to his influence on tropical garden design, he is also credited with bringing the concepts of modernist landscape architecture to his home country of Brazil. In 1949, Marx became the owner of the Sítio de Santo Antonio da Bica, a large estate in the outskirts of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Over the years, he turned this land into his own personal garden and nursery; today, the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx is considered a Brazilian national monument.

Marx’s Approach to Landscaping

With the exception of some of Marx’s designs along the Copacabana and Flamengo beaches, much of his public work has been poorly maintained. However, the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx has been kept in pristine condition, offering a peek into this amazing landscape architect’s mind, even years after his death in 1994. Marx was an avid painter, and he saw the Earth as a canvas. His designs turned the landscapes he completed into living paintings through his botanical choices and the placement of plants and other elements.

Marx’s Private Estate

As Marx’s own private estate, the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx is perhaps the best example of his work. The grounds, which cover nearly 41 acres, house more than 3,500 species of plants collected during Marx’s expeditions into the Brazilian rainforests in search of new botanical wonders to incorporate into his designs. In addition to the gardens and nursery, the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx also contains five reflecting pools, seven buildings, and a museum collection that includes thousands of Marx’s artistic works, including sculptures, prints, drawings, and tapestries.

An outdoor kitchen adds functionality and convenience to your home, providing a place for anything from a quick snack to major meal preparation outdoors. When creating your outdoor kitchen, drawing inspiration from your yard and your existing indoor kitchen can help you design an outdoor living space that perfectly suits your style and needs.

Consider Existing Outdoor Features

Your outdoor kitchen design should mesh with the existing style of your home’s exterior features to create a seamless transition from one space to the next. When choosing the materials for your kitchen, consider the look of your home’s exterior, as well as the styles you’ve chosen for other outdoor spaces, such as your pool or deck. By pulling colors, materials, and styles from your existing features into your kitchen’s design, you’ll create a completely new space that looks like a complementary part of the whole.

Maximize Your Layout

Space is often at a premium when designing an outdoor kitchen layout. Ensuring there is a clear path through your kitchen to access both your home and your yard will make moving through this space easier and more convenient. By placing certain appliances that require electricity or gas near existing lines, you can reduce the time and financial costs of kitchen installation.

Keep Function in Mind
The function of your outdoor kitchen will play a significant part in the ideal design for this space. If you plan to use your outdoor kitchen primarily for snacks and simple meal preparation, a smaller, less high-tech design that features seating and storage space may be best. Alternatively, if you need your outdoor kitchen to handle large-scale meal preparation during parties, you’ll want to include plenty of counter space and larger appliances capable of storing and cooking a larger volume of food.

At Santa Rita Landscaping, our landscape design team in Tucson can also help you create the perfect outdoor kitchen or living space to complement your home. We invite you to check out our landscape installation and maintenance service on the web, or give us a call at (520) 623-0421 to get started.

Green spaces are of ever-growing importance as the world becomes more centered around cities and the infrastructure therein. When you are deciding how to landscape your Tucson yard, keep in mind some of the great gardens of the world as inspiration. Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York, is a 200-acre garden located 90 miles north of New York City that opened to the public in 1960. Drawing inspiration from Asian artwork depicting gardens, Innisfree uses natural elements to put nature into a more framed, organized garden. Read on to learn more about this stunning garden.

Origins

Innisfree Garden is recognized as one of the world’s best. It took over 50 years to complete the garden, with work done by landscape architect Lester Collins and his client, artist Walter Beck. Beck and his wife, Marion, began working on Innisfree in the late 1920s, as it was originally the location of their country residence. Asian art influenced Beck’s own work, his collecting, and ultimately, provided the inspiration for the style that Innisfree drew from. When Beck found the work of 8th century Chinese poet and garden maker Wang Wei, he was able to focus on the specific elements that he wanted to use for his own land.

Cup Gardens

One of the most characteristic elements of Wang Wei’s garden design was the use of cup gardens, which were employed to provide a sense of place to the land. Cup gardens are smaller and focused inward, and are used within the context of the larger landscape to break up focus and allow the viewer to feel immersed. Beck utilized design techniques and advice from his artist wife to create pictures within the landscape, treating each cup garden as individual works of art. It was Lester Collins who worked with these individual gardens and turned them into a unified landscape.

Pay a visit to Innisfree Garden the next time you’re in the Empire State. In the meantime, contact Santa Rita Landscaping in Tucson at (520) 623-0421 to find out how we can help you with your landscape design. We have been providing expert landscaping services for over 30 years.