NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Cheekwood Estate and Gardens has been selected by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) to be part of a program that supports the enhancement of Japanese gardens outside of Japan.
The MLIT will send a team of six gardeners and craftsman to renovate Cheekwood's Japanese garden, Shōmu-en, Blevins Japanese Garden. The renovations to be made include deepening of the dry creek, placement of new boulders in the dry pond and rearrangement of the traditional Tsukubai basin behind the viewing pavilion.
Cheekwood will provide material, equipment and logistics support to the MLIT team, which will be working onsite from October 7 through October 11.
"We are thrilled to welcome the gardeners and craftsmen from Japan to Nashville to aid in the restoration of our Japanese Garden," Peter Grimaldi, Cheekwood's vice president of garden and facilities, said. "We are so pleased to not only enhance the garden, but to preserve it for generations to come so that it can continue to be celebrated as a national treasure."
The Japanese garden at Cheekwood was closed to the public in May of this year to undergo a major renovation, which is part of a plan to endow the garden. Cheekwood calls it "an enduring symbol of the friendship between Tennessee and Japan."
The Japanese garden at Cheekwood was designed by David Engel, who Cheekwood calls an important designer of Japanese gardens in the United States. Shōmu-en, Blevins first opened in 1990,
The reopening of the Japanese garden is planned for March 28, 2020.
