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This garden also serves other functions:

Landscape Theme

Asian Garden

Shade Garden

Winter Garden

Landscape Location

Patio

Small Space

Walkways

Design Feature

Mass Planting

Screen/Privacy

Shade Tree

Small Tree

Resistance To Challenges

Heavy Shade

Asian Garden- Japanese

A viewing window in a bamboo fence.

Spring

A viewing window in a bamboo fence. Garden age: 30 years J.C. Raulston Arboretum CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' Lace-Leaf Japanese Maple Laceleaf Japanese Maple Seiryu Japanese Maple Fall color
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis' Form
Lagerstroemia subcostata var. fauriei Japanese Crape Myrtle Form
Nandina domestica Chinese Sacred Bamboo Heavenly Bamboo Nandina Growing Form
Description

The Japanese Garden at JC Raulston Arboretum is one of many theme gardens designed and built by students, faculty, staff, and the green industry of North Carolina. The garden contains a wide array of Japanese plants and a large, raked-stone Zen garden of contemplation.

Visitors cross a traditional wooden bridge constructed in a zigzag pattern, designed to keep evil spirits out. Continuing through mounded plantings, visitors soon emerge into an enclosed Zen garden of contemplation. From a viewing deck, several magnificent plant specimens are evident across a "sea" of raked stone. The scale of these plants is designed to provide an illusion of being on a faraway distant shore. All structures in the Japanese garden were built with respect for the wood in the true spirit of a Zen Garden, using only handcrafted construction without power tools.

A viewing window in a bamboo fence.

Spring

A viewing window in a bamboo fence. Garden age: 30 years J.C. Raulston Arboretum CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' Lace-Leaf Japanese Maple Laceleaf Japanese Maple Seiryu Japanese Maple Fall color
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis' Form
Lagerstroemia subcostata var. fauriei Japanese Crape Myrtle Form
Nandina domestica Chinese Sacred Bamboo Heavenly Bamboo Nandina Growing Form
A quiet spot to relax in the shade.

Summer

A quiet spot to relax in the shade. Garden age: 30 years Glenn Wagstaff CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Lagerstroemia subcostata var. fauriei Japanese Crape Myrtle Form
Nandina domestica Chinese Sacred Bamboo Heavenly Bamboo Nandina Growing Form
Ophiopogon japonicus Dwarf Lilyturf Mondo Grass Ophiopogon japonicus
Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Oldfield Pine Yellow Pine Growing in a stand
Japanese Garden in the winter.

Winter

Japanese Garden in the winter. Garden age: 30 years Glenn Wagstaff CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' Lace-Leaf Japanese Maple Laceleaf Japanese Maple Seiryu Japanese Maple Fall color
Lagerstroemia subcostata var. fauriei Japanese Crape Myrtle Form
Nandina domestica Chinese Sacred Bamboo Heavenly Bamboo Nandina Growing Form
Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Oldfield Pine Yellow Pine Growing in a stand
The island in the Japanese Garden.

Winter

The island in the Japanese Garden. Garden age: 30 years Glenn Wagstaff CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Ophiopogon japonicus Dwarf Lilyturf Mondo Grass Ophiopogon japonicus
Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Oldfield Pine Yellow Pine Growing in a stand
A viewing window in a bamboo fence.

Spring

A viewing window in a bamboo fence. Garden age: 30 years J.C. Raulston Arboretum CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' Lace-Leaf Japanese Maple Laceleaf Japanese Maple Seiryu Japanese Maple Fall color
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis' Form
Lagerstroemia subcostata var. fauriei Japanese Crape Myrtle Form
Nandina domestica Chinese Sacred Bamboo Heavenly Bamboo Nandina Growing Form
A quiet spot to relax in the shade.

Summer

A quiet spot to relax in the shade. Garden age: 30 years Glenn Wagstaff CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Lagerstroemia subcostata var. fauriei Japanese Crape Myrtle Form
Nandina domestica Chinese Sacred Bamboo Heavenly Bamboo Nandina Growing Form
Ophiopogon japonicus Dwarf Lilyturf Mondo Grass Ophiopogon japonicus
Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Oldfield Pine Yellow Pine Growing in a stand
Japanese Garden in the winter.

Winter

Japanese Garden in the winter. Garden age: 30 years Glenn Wagstaff CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' Lace-Leaf Japanese Maple Laceleaf Japanese Maple Seiryu Japanese Maple Fall color
Lagerstroemia subcostata var. fauriei Japanese Crape Myrtle Form
Nandina domestica Chinese Sacred Bamboo Heavenly Bamboo Nandina Growing Form
Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Oldfield Pine Yellow Pine Growing in a stand
The island in the Japanese Garden.

Winter

The island in the Japanese Garden. Garden age: 30 years Glenn Wagstaff CC BY 2.0
Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo
Acer palmatum 'Kiyohime' Kiyohime Japanese Maple Spreading Japanese Maple Form
Ophiopogon japonicus Dwarf Lilyturf Mondo Grass Ophiopogon japonicus
Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Oldfield Pine Yellow Pine Growing in a stand