Moments of Zen - A Garden Grown, Sister to Sister

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On a foggy Duluth morning in August 2010 under pelting rain, a group of gardeners and volunteers swarmed the top of Enger Park. The Japanese delegation from Duluth’s Sister City of Ohara was due to arrive that afternoon for the dedication of the Zen Garden.  But it wasn’t ready. The posts surrounding the “dry lake” had yet to be installed, and the white granite chips awaited spreading on the lake bottom.

Creating the Japanese Zen Garden had been accomplished in a mere two months. The composition of rocks, sand, plants and trees invited contemplation. The crushed bluestone path with flagstone pavers meandered through the garden, around the dry lake, by manicured plantings and across a zig-zag bridge over a stone creek. Tall grasses swayed in the breeze. Japanese stone monuments nestled among the greenery. Stone benches encouraged lingering. It all came together with moments to spare before the grand celebration … but years of history and planning preceded that accomplishment.

The significance of that day is buried in the history of the bell that resides at the top of the garden.

During World War II, temple bells in Japan were donated to melt down for shell casings for that country’s war efforts. At the end of the war, crew members of the Navy’s USS Duluth found a surviving bell in a scrapyard and brought it back as a war relic, ultimately presenting it to the city of Duluth. When a visiting Japanese scholar traced its roots back to Ohara, Duluth city officials returned the bell to its home in 1954. Honored with a grand celebration and a parade, it was designated the American-Japanese Peace Bell, forging a lasting relationship between the two cities.

Ohara became Duluth’s fourth Sister City in 1990, and a year later Ohara presented Duluth with a new bell – a replica of the original with an added inscription chronicling the bell’s history. Enger Park was chosen for the bell’s home, and two local carpenters constructed a tower using Japanese methods and traditional materials. The bell was installed during a ceremony attended by representatives of both cities, celebrating the bond between the communities.

The Sister City relationship flourished through visiting delegations of students, teachers and business people. This Duluth-Ohara connection is part of the larger Sister Cities International program, originated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote cooperation between international communities at the municipal level, thus to increase cultural understanding and encourage economic development. The nonprofit Duluth Sister Cities International (DSCI), founded in 1986, works in close collaboration with the city of Duluth to foster these goals.

During a Duluth delegation visit to Ohara in 2005, the idea of creating a Zen Garden to flank the Peace Bell originated. Irina Haller was part of that delegation and wanted to help with the garden. In a twist of geography and fate, Irina hailed from another Duluth Sister City, Petrozavodsk, Russia.

“When I was 15 and living in Russia, a correspondent for the national news was stationed in Tokyo.  They did a full series on Japanese gardens,” Irina explains. “I read every book I could find on Japanese gardens in Russia.”

Living in Duluth by then, Irina, her husband, Ed Haller, then president of DSCI, and Glenn Peterson, a landscape contractor, threw themselves into the project.  They became the initial members of the Duluth Peace Bell Garden Committee, and with the assistance of a few others, they spearheaded the effort to bring the Zen Garden to life.  “The idea was to create an authentic environment around the bell,” according to Irina. “To provide an opportunity to learn about the culture and about the bell,”

DSCI dove into fundraising and announced a competition among local garden architects to design the garden in 2006. The panel of judges included representatives from both communities, including a landscape architect from Ohara. “The winning garden design had to be organic to the bell surroundings and to incorporate traditional Japanese garden elements: stone, water, plantings and manmade objects,” Irina remembers.

SAS+Associates of Duluth was awarded the job, with Matthew Daly as lead architect and working closely with Luke Sydow. Over the next few years, designing and planning continued, as did fundraising.

Stone features form the foundation of the garden. Central to the design is the dry lake with boulders on its perimeter and rock islands. A stone creek flows from the bell down the hill into the lake. “We discussed having actual water but decided on symbolic water,” says Irina.

The garden’s design designated types of plants to use, but it was up to Irina and Glenn to make the final selections. Duluth’s cold climate presented challenges, Irina says. “Glenn developed the planting guide that included a selection of plants that worked in our climate while still being true to Japanese garden spirit.”

To connect the garden to the bell, the plans included a flagstone plaza. This open area set off the bell in its unique red tower and created a gathering space at the top of the garden.

By 2010, they had sufficient funding to begin construction.  Excavation began in July, and the reality of the landscape came into play.  Duluth’s bedrock ran throughout the area and the gardeners learned to be flexible in their design. The existing rock dictated the shape of the lake.  A natural crevice became the route of the creek. But the local stones were also a great resource. All the boulders surrounding the lake and spread around the garden came from Enger Park. It took an army of volunteers to carefully place all those rocks.

Most of the planting was done during the heat of the summer as the August dedication date loomed closer. The committee scoured local nurseries for unique plants to fit the theme. “Texture and shape were more important than color,” Irina notes. By intention, the garden is not flashy and only erupts in color when rhododendrons, azaleas and peonies bloom in spring and early summer.

Two paths lead from the Azumaya Gate at the entrance to the garden up to the bell tower.  One is a handicap-accessible path that leads to the right around the dry lake. At a fork one part follows the Superior Hiking Trail across the bell plaza and the other turns into the garden. Irina knows the layout by heart.

“These paths surround a woodland area with large oak trees, shrubs including dogwoods, magnolia and honeysuckle, and perennials, such as Solomon’s seal, ferns and pachysandra.”

The other path leads through the middle of the garden between the dry lake and the birch grove. “It provides most of the opportunities for viewing different parts of the garden.”

Since the just-in-time dedication ceremony, the Zen Garden has become a fixture in the park, a curiosity to some visitors, a source of serenity for others. Many have grown to love the garden.

Just as during the creation of the garden, the ongoing maintenance is a collaborative effort.

Gale Kerns, current co-chair of the Japanese Peace Bell Garden Committee, is quick to give credit to the role of other players. “The whole project has been through a close partnership with Duluth Parks maintenance personnel, and through steady support from the city itself, as well as some financial support and volunteer efforts from Duluth Sister Cities International members.”

One unusual task takes a dedicated set of volunteers – tending the dry lake. Several days a week, they use specialized rakes to create patterns with the granite chips that represent water. There are three sizes of chips that interlock and allow the ridges to stand up when raked, resulting in a pleasing flow. It is a labor of love, first smoothing the surface and removing any footprints, then carving designs into the rocks.

Irina rakes every Saturday morning. “It can take 30 minutes to two hours depending on what you want to do with it.”

The time grows when you add in curious visitors. “So many people ask questions. They share their experiences, and it makes me happy.”

But it’s more than that, she adds. “I find a tremendous peace inside of me when I rake. It’s my meditation.”

Last fall, a small group of DSCI leaders and a city councilor gathered to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the garden, as well as the 30th anniversary of the Sister City relationship with Ohara, now known as Isumi-machi after incorporation of three towns – Ohara-machi, Isumi-machi and Misaki-machi.

Gale summed up the relationship of the two sister cities well that day.

“The bell is situated with the hammer pointing towards Isumi-machi, and while a popular tourist attraction, the ringing is also a reminder that enemies can become friends, that individual friendships promote understanding and peace. We have been Sister Cities for 30 years – hopefully we will continue to be so long into the future.”

Frequent contributor Molly Brewer Hoeg is a writer, bike enthusiast and ever curious resident of Duluth with her husband, Richard.