Backyard Zen from the Los Angeles Times

Today's Home Section of the Los Angeles Times holds this wonderful article on the Japanese Gardens of Los Angeles and those who care for them. teh web article includes some beautiful photography, as well.

As much as I enjoy Japanese Gardens, I don't think I have the committment to care for one. They need detailed and loving care in cleaning, pruning and other maintenance. Such work does approach a Zen-like concentration, though, which is probably a very good thing, especially here in Los Angeles.

Backyard Zen Japanese gardens -- and the men who tend them -- have long inspired L.A.'s suburban soul.

IT'S a little after 8 a.m. on a slumbering block of tract homes in Panorama City, but Roy Imazu is already deep into a routine any choreographer would admire. There's not a wasted movement as he cuts up the floor with his partner, a trusty Honda power mower. He promenades briskly around the perimeter of the lawn, then closes in with an ever-tightening box maneuver. With a final pivot and push, he polishes off the last clump, leaving a tidy emerald carpet.

(Via Los Angeles Times - House & Garden.)

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