Dream Lake Garden - Montreal Botanic Garden

I completed another visit to the Montreal Botanic Garden during the summer of 2018. I first visited the gardens here in April of 2015.

The Chinese garden, known as Dream Lake Garden, is very large and may be the largest Chinese garden of this type in North America. Built in 1990, it was constructed with authentic materials shipped from Shanghai and assembled by Chinese craftsmen. 

Website: http://espacepourlavie.ca/en/chinese-garden

Upon my first visit in 2015, it was cold and wintery. Nevertheless, it made for a beautiful site.

During a visit in August 2016, I discovered that the garden was under a major renovation, one that would not be complete until September of 2017. 

With the renovations about 95% complete, I was finally able to see the garden in its new splendor during the summer of 2018. There is still some work being done on some of the walkways, the main waterfall feature, and some of the beds that still needed plantings, but the structures themselves were complete.

There is also an impressive collection of Penjing (similar to Bonsai in Japan) located in the Springtime Courtyard.

Montreal Botanic Garden - Japanese Garden

The Japanese garden was built in 1988 and is very large. There are sweeping vistas that are populated with many elements of a traditional Japanese garden - stone lanterns, bridges, a peace bell, and structures of various design and size intended to give visitors a restful place for contemplation. There is also a large pavilion which includes a tea room and several small gardens within.

Website: https://espacepourlavie.ca/en/gardens-japanese-garden

The first time I visited in April of 2015, it was still cold and covered with snow.

I also liked the small pavilion that overlooked the main lake of the garden. The dimensions were very close to the dimensions of my gazebo in my own garden. I know that at some point I will want to replace my temporary gazebo with a more permanent structure, and this Japanes pavilion seemed to fit the style and size of what I would like to build.

The next time I visited, in August 2016, there was not a covering of snow and ice.

The garden is worthy of its reputation as one of the best in North America. The only drawback I could see was that the pond was created by using a large waterproof tarp as its base. Its unfortunate, but in many places along the edge and throughout its clear water, the tarp is visible. 

There is also a Tea Garden along the side of the Japanese Pavilion as seen in the summer of 2018: