In the midst of daily chaos, Lisa Parramore believes, Japanese gardens offer necessary moments of peace.
So inspired was she by the mastery of Japanese gardens, the Mountain View resident wrote a book on the subject, “Living with Japanese Gardens,” co-authored by Chadine Flood Gong. In it she emphasizes the connection in those gardens between humanity and nature, and the peace that ensues from the relationship.
Parramore’s professional life has taken many different paths; at this point, the most prominent aspect of it is her love affair with Japanese gardens. She even founded her own landscaping company, Hanabie Japanese Garden Design, which she runs out of her home.
It was on this path that she met co-author Gong, a Los Gatos resident who is also a landscaper and interior designer in the Japanese style.
“Gong and I first met when I hired her to landscape my backyard,” Parramore recalled.
It’s not just the exterior of Parramore’s Old Mountain View home, where she has lived for 15 years, that contains Japanese touches. The tub in her master bathroom, for example, is designed to resemble the soaking tubs in Japan.
During the early 1990s, Parramore lived in Fukushima, Japan, while she taught for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. “My fondest memories of Japan are going skiing and then relaxing in the natural hot springs,” she said. Her Mountain View bathroom is modeled to mimic that effect, as though one were sitting in the hot springs.
Fukushima — a rural, unpopulated region of Japan known for its rice farming — inspired the bathroom in several other ways: A Japanese black pine can be seen through the window, and the curtain resembles the rice paper that is so common in Fukushima.
Not just the dwelling
According to the book, in the Japanese language, there are two characters that create the word for “home.” The first is “ka,” for house, and the second is “tei,” which translates into garden. A home in Japan is more than just the dwelling. The complete home is a combination of the house and garden.In this spirit, Parramore says she seeks to bring an appreciation and integration of nature to the Western world. She hopes to bring a unity of house and garden through her writing and landscaping.
“Making the inside and outside blend seamlessly is the hallmark of Japanese design,” she said. “Although traditionally people think gardens are meant to be enjoyed outdoors, I believe we can enhance the quality of life by creating avenues that can be enjoyed inside as well.”
If a reader were to take one idea or principle away from “Living with Japanese Gardens,” besides the idea of uniting the home and garden, Parramore hopes it would be the Japanese design principle of asymmetry. The asymmetrical design is unpretentious and unassuming, and Parramore finds it to be a refreshing alternative to Western symmetry. The book is full of beautiful colorful photographs illustrating the concept.
Parramore works all throughout the Bay Area, particularly in Los Gatos, Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills. The climate here is much drier than in Japan, however, so some common plants in Japanese gardens must be substituted with others more adaptable to the region.
Parramore noted that the Japanese gardens in San Jose, for example, use pine trees, which require less water. She also noted that Japanese maples do grow well in California, and though they don’t grow quite as large, they are still very attractive, and therefore are commonly used in the gardens.
Meanwhile, moss, a Japanese garden staple, is difficult to grow in dry climates. Here it is often substituted with Irish moss, Scotch moss or baby tears, none of which actually belong to the family of true moss.
“I prefer to use baby tears for ground cover. It is my favorite plant to use,” Parramore said.
Local gardeners can discuss these and other tips during next week’s book signing of “Living with Japanese Gardens” at Books Inc. on Castro Street. The event, which will include a talk by the authors, is on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Twenty-five percent of the event’s proceeds will be donated to the Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF). The foundation provides funding for artistic, musical, physical and technological enrichment programs for the elementary and middle schools in the Mountain View Whisman School District.
Parramore’s two young children attend Castro, and Parramore says she wants to contribute to a well rounded education for her children and their peers.
“The MVEF plays an important role in supplementing what the school district already provides. I am happy to be able to contribute to their cause,” she said.
INFORMATION:
What: Book signing and lecture on “Living with Japanese Gardens,” by Lisa Parramore and Chadine Flood Gong
Where: Books Inc., 301 Castro St., Mountain View
When: Thursday, Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Info: A list of upcoming author events at Books Inc. can be found by visiting www.booksinc.net. For more on the book, visit www.livingwithjapanesegardens.com.
E-mail Amber Cleave at acleave@mv-voice.com
