RECENTLY I VISITED JAPAN through the eyes of garden designer Dean Riddle. Dean spoke and showed pictures of Kyoto and Tokyo (that's Kyoto's Golden Pavilion at left) at Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack, L.I., including dry rock gardens, moss gardens, and such traditional Japanese gardening principles as the use of borrowed scenery. Although Dean's own lush, billowy style couldn't be more different from the restraint of the historic Japanese gardens, their essential aim is the same: to showcase the beauty of nature.
A piece I wrote on the exuberant perennial gardens Dean designed for a client in Upstate New York will appear in the magazine's July/August issue. To read more about Dean's time in Japan and see more pictures, pop over to my blog, casaCARA.
