So I continued working on the Zen garden today. I had one thing in mind, construct the bamboo screen. The purpose of the screen is to do nothing more than stop the eye from looking at the door behind it.

I wanted to make the screen look authentic so I didn’t use any screws. This entire fence was constructed using lashings. I haven’t done this since my Boy Scout days, but somethings you never forget. Here is a close up of one of the 63 lashings. Needless to say I had just about as many blisters.

From here you can see the door behind the screen that I was trying to distract from. I think it worked, and the light bamboo color compliments the green on the walls and the natural bamboo growing right next to it.

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Okay this day was pretty brutal. I must have removed about 15 wheelbarrows of soil out of this garden. Backbreaking work, but extremely rewarding to see the final look. So over the past weeks I have worked to uncover the canvas of this garden, and now finally and I can see it. At this point the outline is now defined, and I have identified the items I want to keep. Also I have located placement for the three main stones. The sand is a little dirty, so it is not as white as it should be. I need a good rain to rinse it clean.

The bamboo in the top right of the photo bothers me a bit because it is located in the sand, and gives me an even number of objects. However its not my main focus right now.

From this angle you can see both mounds of soils are gone (thank goodness).

I now plan to add two bamboo screens to bring interest and contrast againt the green background as well as to hide the door. It has come a long way in a rather short period. I should be able to finish up this weekend. Wish me luck!

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