The garden is located at 38 College Street in Brunswick, ME and sits behind the Asian Studies Program Offices of Bowdoin College. It was not hard to find and access to the garden required only that one walk around to the back of the building. There was a lot of construction going on nearby during the summer of 2018 when I visited, so getting photos without the blue construction tarp constantly present wasn't easy.
Website: https://www.bowdoin.edu/japanese/research/bowdoin-japanese-garden.shtml
The garden was completed sometime around 2008 and from some of the early photos I came across online, it looked promising.
However, I quickly discovered that this little garden was in need of a lot of care.
The patio had decayed, while weeds had taken over much of the garden. It was clear that no one had tended the garden in some time. Many of the plants had become overgrown. Although not necessarily a bad thing, without training and trimming, they have become a bit too chaotic. Some plants have done poorly and should be replaced.
This garden has the "bones" of a well thought out garden. At the same time, its current state illustrates the difficulty of creating Japanese gardens - they change over time and if left unattended, become sad. I have learned this lesson in my own garden. It requires constant attention. Many people do not realize that they are creating a garden that is a living thing - its not static. Best to visualize the garden 5 years in the future as you plan and plant, otherwise, you will not end up with the garden that you want.
On the other hand, if planned well, a garden can grow and change and not stray too far from its original intent. The key to success in all of these matters is regular attentiveness, something the the Lancaster Garden currently lacks.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed getting to see what still has the possibility of being a wonderful garden.
I placed myself in the image below to give the garden a sense of scale.
