| Have you ever been to the Tamagawa Gardens? No? That's unfortunate; the garden is one of the most beautiful spots on campus. Surrounded by buildings, the garden is a small oasis of greenery and water. The lower gate to the gardens is surrounded by bamboo which thrives in the Spring. The upper gate is framed in the same trees that form a natural screening fence to the access lane behind it. The central jewel of the gardens is the koi pond, donated to Malaspina University-College as a 10th. anniversary gift from the Malaspina College Students Association, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Sage, and Mr. Joel Southward. A small pump house continually feeds the pond with water. Going with the Japanese aesthetic, the pump house is obscured by trees on all sides. If it weren't for the quiet hum that the pump makes and the sounds of water flowing into the pond, the pump house would be almost perfectly hidden. On the other side of the garden, a gazebo fenced in by waist-high shrubs looks over a well-kept lawn that faces the Art Department building. One of the delights of the garden is to lie on the lawn in the sun, listening to the sounds of the pond and just relaxing... If the Tamagawa gardens aren't your cup of tea, why not enjoy a cup of tea in the Okayama Gardens, between the Developmental Education and Student Services buildings? Okayama Garden was opened on April 27th, 1997 in honour of Mr. Tsutomu Harada. The garden itself was designed and constructed by students in the Horticulture program with resources donated by Okayama Women's College in Japan. The Okayama garden is smaller, and not directly screened by any trees, so it's almost a surprise walking down a stairwell and finding oneself walking on a bridge over a pond. Okayama garden has the same variety of bamboo that flourishes in the Tamagawa garden, and a large patch of bamboo grows behind and over a granite Chinese lantern. The gem of the Okayama garden is the waterfall that feeds the koi pond. Water flows over large stones set into the concrete wall to form a pool which drains into a creek leading into the koi pond. On Okayama Garden’s opening day, Hirofumi Harada, Vice-President of Okayama Women’s College, expressed his gratitude to Malaspina by presenting to the President of Malaspina, Rich Johnston, a kakeziku, a hanging scroll of a crane and a turtle. In Japanese culture, turtles and cranes are symbolic of long life, so Vice-President Harada was expressing his wish that Malaspina and Okayama cooperate forever. (The transcripts of the ceremony’s speeches can be found at the Physical Plant's Okayama Garden webpage.) The gardens, in true Japanese aesthetic style, change with the seasons. In the Winter, Okayama Garden is somewhat bare, frost on the stones. Tamagawa is still very green, as it has many evergreen trees planted. In the Spring, both gardens come alive with blooms and new growth everywhere. In the Summer, Tamagawa’s gazebo becomes a welcome place in the shade, the rest of the garden awash with sunlight. In Autumn, both gardens change to more muted greens, as fall is upon them and Winter around the corner. The bamboo changes colour to a pale yellow. Every day, the gardens look different; every different angle of the sun changes the shadows and highlights in the leaves. You don’t have to go up (or down) to the gardens to enjoy spectacular beauty at Malaspina. Simply wait for a clear day, walk out onto the balcony of the upper cafeteria, and look out across the strait. Clouds from the Coast Mountain Range billow up and float across the Strait of Georgia in infinite variety and size. On a clear day, one can see for almost 150° and take in hundreds of kilometres of the coast. On days when the conditions are clear everywhere, it is possible to see Mt. Baker looming in the distance to the South. This is the advantage of Malaspina being built on a hill. The disadvantages are many; the advantage is that the sky opens wide and shows everything for as far as the eye can see. On clear nights, it is possible to see the lights on the ski lifts on Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver . Malaspina has some jewels that shine. The gardens are those which are green. |
 Tamagawa Garden's pond  The waterfall in Okayama Garden  Bamboo and Chinese lantern in Okayama Garden  Panorama from Malaspina |
All content on this page © Simon Knowles, 2001.
Photography taken 19-20/03/2001 using a digital camera.
Last updated: 21/03/2001