The average Canadian family garden is usually adorned with flower beds, fruit trees, lawns and sometimes a vegetable garden. Wooden garden buildings are mainly for practical purposes, such as tool sheds, flower racks, melon racks, etc. Pure horticultural wooden landscape buildings are rare. Chinese-style garden buildings are even harder to come by.
However, Yi Cun is an oriental garden here in Canada, a rare sight amidst modern western style backyards.
Reporter: Why do you want to build such an oriental courtyard?
Yi Cun Master: Modern architecture makes people feel a bit impetuous. Our ancestors, however, pay attention to artistic conception. Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, constitute a very important part of their daily lives. I want to create such an environment, with a touch of Zen, like a winding path leading to a secluded spot, where I can have tea and chat with friends. I hope people can feel calm and soothed as soon as they walk into this place.
Reporter: Can Western-style gardens achieve this effect?
Yi Cun Master: Western-style gardens can certainly achieve such an effect, but it will require a relatively large space. The classic Western-style garden is usually greater in size, with large areas dedicated to rose gardens, fountains, sculptures, lawns, and arches, looks very beautiful on large open sites. But if you want to condense all these elements into a small courtyard, it will be too crowded, and unable to create that mood.
For the oriental courtyard, designers focus on showing a different view at every turn of the pathway. Even in a small area can you create such an atmosphere. My yard here is not large, so I adopted an oriental garden design.