About Greening the Heartland 2004: Beyond Sustainability

The Greening, Mind and Spirit is a hallmark of green and sustainable design projects. Leading Japanese garden designer, Hoichi Kurisu of Kurisu International, has created the perfect place for contemplation and renewal, The Morikami Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Rd., Delray Beach, FL, The gardens, known as the Roji-en (Garden of the Drops of Dew) George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Japanese Gardens, are important in our effort to go green, save water and limit pollution.

The sculpting of these Japanese gardens in tropical Delray was a process of transforming a pine forest into six unique contemplative gardens, with the process taking 1 year and 5 months to complete. The gardens are the Shinden Garden; the Paradise Garden; the Early Rock Garden; the Late Rock Garden; the Flat Garden and the Modern Romantic Garden, representing the six periods of Japanese garden history.

Florida's population is the fastest growing of any state in the U.S., with increasing numbers coming to Florida to live not just visit. Using green and sustainable building practices is currently leading Florida's focus in promoting an environmentally sustainable approach to growth.

In garden design, sustainable includes the use of native and non-invasive plantings. A Japanese garden uses some ornamentals and non-native plants, but in the design of the Morikami Gardens Hoichi Kurisu was able to use many Florida native species including indigenous slash pines and Sea Grapes chosen for their natural sculptural shape, and Gumbo Limbo chosen for its leaf quality and aged-looking bark.

The backbone of Japanese garden design is the use of large-scale boulders, yet Florida has no true rock. The yellow or white Florida flat rock is not suitable for the essential structural elements of the Japanese garden. Hoichi Kurisu and his team went to Austin, Texas to select all the granite boulders used in the Morikami Japanese gardens.

Perfect not only for contemplation but also for water conservation, are the dry landscapes and the dry waterfall in the gardens. These Zen inspired dry gardens use a dry creek technique, and are naturally draining surfaces.

Greening the Heartland 2004: Beyond Sustainability is setting the stage as the region's leading green building and sustainability conference. It will include keynote sessions delivered from the nation's foremost sustainability thought leaders and a broad spectrum of concurrent sessions addressing key sustainability components that must be advanced as we continue our journey to a sustainable future.

The Zen inspired gardens include dry cascades, which are careful arrangements of rocks meant to suggest dynamic waterfalls, but without the actual flow of water. A dry cascade sits nearby the Paradise Garden. The dry cascade has the same qualities as a waterfall, simulating a water-fed creek and a waterfall using only gravel and natural rock forms.

These Zen rock gardens called 'dry landscapes' (karesansui) are abstract garden designs created as a means toward self-examination and spiritual purity. Dry landscapes are not designed as extensively planted gardens typical for the gratification of the senses. Zen gardens often use no or very little plantings, inducing a calming effect through simplicity and order. The ascetic arrangements of rock and gravel are expected to help clear the mind of worldly attachments that would otherwise restrict the attainment of enlightenment.