Cowden Japanese garden

The reopening of the Sha-ra-kuen Japanese garden at Cowden is something I’ve been waiting a long time for. When I became interested in Japanese gardens, I looked online to find out if there were any in Scotland, and I heard about this garden which had sadly been vandalised in the 60s and was not open to the public.

A few years later I began to hear rumours that the garden was being renovated, and would be opened up to the public eventually. I began to follow the progress on Facebook, and they were finally able to have an open day at the start of June (and are hoping to be fully open soon).

The garden was every bit as amazing as I’d hoped, with every turn leading me to think, “No, *this* is my favourite bit!”. 

The garden centres around a large pond, with various bridges and lanterns. The large arched bridge was not open, but they are hoping to add a handrail and open it up. The zigzag bridge is meant to represent the twists and turns of life. The lanterns have been rescued after being pushed into the water, which is why some of them are incomplete.

The rhododendrons were in full bloom, which made it look really spectacular. And the water was so still when I arrived that it acted as a perfect mirror. There is also a short woodland walk that you can take.

After looking round the garden I had tea and cake in the tea cabin.