FARGO - For 13 years, the North Plains Botanical Garden Company has planned to create a Japanese garden at Junker Farm Park. This garden is now being designed under the guidance of a renowned Japanese landscape designer.
The idea to add a Japanese garden to the Northern Lowlands Botanical Gardens at Junker Farm Park came about after Vern Hunter traveled to Japan and saw firsthand what the park had to offer.
“It was a small group that had an original idea. This park, when we build it, will be Japan's only major garden between the West Coast and Minneapolis,” said Hunter, who works for the Northern Plains Botanical Gardens Society.
The first phase of the Japanese Garden, now called the Mind and Spirit Garden, was completed, but the Northern Plains Botanical Garden Company raised $95,000 before the second phase began.
Phase 1 completed the park's entrance, including a pedestrian bridge over the Bali River. Phase 2 will include rebuilding and leveling land, irrigation, road building and planting grass, said the Garden Society.
This program will be implemented in 9 stages and will cost over $1 million to complete. Hunter and architect Sadafumi Uchiyama said that when completed, the garden will include a dry garden, a Japanese bridge, a goldfish pond, and many plants and trees, some of which will grow in the Red River Valley.
The Horticultural Society hopes to establish a Japanese Garden within three to five years, but that effort is dependent on raising funds.
Uchiyama is Principal Curator and Director of the International Japanese Garden Training Center in Portland, Oregon and follows in the footsteps of four generations of gardeners. He was recruited because of his experience as an internationally recognized creator of Japanese gardens.
“You can see a Japanese garden in two ways. The first is the aspect of history, tradition and craftsmanship, art and culture. But I use the word "Japanese garden" as a general adjective to describe a garden with specific characteristics and a purpose," said Uchiyama. . "I focus more on gardens that provide an emotional and psychological aspect."
Gardens have been important sanctuaries for cultures around the world for more than 1,000 years, he said.
“If you can build a garden that lasts 500 years, that's a big deal. And it's important that we meet this time frame. Instant gratification doesn't last. And Japanese gardening brings this aspect to our lives, and we really need it,” says Uchiyama, “it's all about emotion, and gardening feeds on those emotions. We come from nature. We cannot deviate from this truth."
Yanker Farm Park was founded in 1876 and has always been for children, especially since 1989 when the Children's Museum was built. In 2008, President Barack Obama visited the park during his first presidential campaign.
In 2021, the children's museum closed and owners of the Fargo Park District property began exploring the future uses of the land and buildings.
In February, Fargo Park County launched an online poll asking the public if Junker Farm Park, 1201 28th Avenue, would be included. What should be his future? NO.:
Reviews are still being collected, but Hunter loves hearing the public's opinion.
"It won't affect us (the park) directly, but we don't care who our neighbors are. We encourage the community to stay connected to the Fargo Park area," said Hunter.
Fargo Park County Public Affairs Director Carolyn Buten, who is also in charge of Junker Farm Park's master plan, said March 10 was the public feedback deadline.
Under the lease, the Northern Plains Botanical Garden Society runs programs and activities in its part of the garden, Botten said, adding that the group had ideas for increasing the park area.
Uchiyama will be the keynote speaker at the 25th annual meeting of the Northern Plains Botanical Garden Society, to be held on Tuesday, March 7 at 7:00 pm at the Rourke Museum and Art Gallery, 521 Main Avenue, Moorhead. This event is free and open to everyone.
