The home of Henk and Ruby DeRee is well situated on the beautiful Muirfield golf course in Dublin, with a serene view of the fairways and greens that extend the vista of their small yard.
“Henk is very creative and artistic. Because we both lean toward new age philosophies and love spending time just enjoying nature, we were immediately taken with the idea of a Japanese-style garden when our landscape designer made the suggestion,” Ruby says.
Oakland Nursery landscape design architect, John Reiner says the couple’s property is ideal for this unique garden design. “I thought of something based on a traditional Japanese garden because the DeRees’ existing slope and mature trees generate the perfect environment for a water feature and a dry river landscape,” Reiner says. “With balance and harmony being the main qualities in a Japanese garden, I felt that a blend of multiple hues of green, in the form of shade-loving Hosta, grasses and moss, interspersed with the classic dry landscape, would work well,” he adds.
The result is an intriguing retreat that juxtaposes plants appropriate to Ohio’s climate with elements commonly found in a Japanese garden—the epitome of balance and tranquility.
Japanese garden design is based on three principles: reduced scale, symbolism and borrowed view, according to aboutjapanesegardens.org. An example of the symbolic element in the DeRee landscape is the sand-strewn “raking garden,” which represents waters of the open sea and provides a resting place for the eye. Large rocks situated within the raked area symbolize volcanic islands. The patterns replicate rippling water, spreading outward from the islands.
“Borrowed view” refers to the manner in which existing scenery becomes part of the total design. In this case, that view includes the property’s tall trees and the adjacent golf course grounds.
“Our favorite time to be in the garden is a summertime evening, but this landscape is just as beautiful in the winter, when the snow settles into the raked grooves of the open sea garden and the interplay between dark and light creates striking shadows,” Ruby says.
“But most of all, we enjoy having our grandchildren here. They have fun walking the stepping-stones to follow the various paths and they love sitting on our huge bluestone turtle, whom we named ‘Jack,’ in honor of Jack Nicklaus,” she adds.