The Dragon's Spine

"Where the movable and immovable meet..."

After moving much of the dirt from the Zen Garden to level off the remainder of the back yard, I needed to work on re-landscaping the property line and working it into the overall plan for the yard.

I have no intention of turning the entire yard into a Zen garden and want to limit the Japanese influence to the eastern portion of the yard where the gazebo and rock bed are located. However, the property line is still awkward, especially with all the weeds growing just off property. So, I decided to curve-up the edge into a dragon’s spine – starting near the garden shed (dragon’s tail), leading towards the gazebo (dragon’s head), with the rock bed being a further extension (dragon’s open mouth with tongue perhaps).

I was also able to obtain two large stones to place along the dragon’s spine - once in, I transplanted my clumping bamboo from last year to this spot. In time, it should create a natural fence of bamboo in front of the gazebo area providing additional privacy.

In addition, I used the Dragon’s Spine in conjunction with a reworking of the bed along the house to create a round area of grass which now acts as an additional entrance into the gazebo-garden area.

Eventually I would like to erect a Tori Gate here (another future project).