Friends of Mukai Program features the Mukai Garden

A program focused on Kuni Mukai’s historic landmark garden will be offered by Friends of Mukai at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 23rd at the Vashon Maury Island Land Trust Building.  Friends of Mukai Garden Committee members Cindy Stockett and Karen Baer will present a slide/digital description and discussion about the unusual garden Kuni Mukai created in 1927-28 to reflect her Japanese cultural heritage, and built with her husband, B.D., and son, Masahiro Mukai.

The Mukai landscape is a singular expression of both American and Japanese influence.  The 1920’s craftsman home with its manicured lawn, typical American plantings and a concrete walkway leading to the front door, reflected B.D.’s desire to live an American lifestyle  In the adjacent free form Japanese stroll garden bordered by numerous cherry trees, bounded by a koi filled waterway, Kuni used artfully designed plants, earth, stones and water to evoke landscapes and memories of Japan.  Her garden was created to share with friends and family and as a venue for social gatherings rather than as a classic high style landscape following strict traditions of Japanese masters. Her outdoor tea parties under the blossoming cherry trees to celebrate the renewal that comes with spring were major Vashon Island social events in the 1930’s and 40’s.  Garden guests were fascinated by the illusion of a larger land vision enclosed within the garden space. It became widely visited by garden enthusiasts from neighboring areas and beyond.
 
The September 23, 1933 issue of The Christian Science Monitor published a feature article about the beauty and charm of the Mukai garden, stating” Like a bird song, it sings of exquisite beauty. The charm of this garden and its distinction is its display of the Japanese genius for making miniature landscapes.”

The house and garden were sold in 1949, and had a succession of owners until it was purchased by Island Landmarks in 2000.  The Mukai Agricultural Complex was declared a King County Landmark in 1993. The house and garden was placed in 1994 on the National Register of Historic Places.

Although some of the elements remain today, the garden no longer resembles the one Kuni imagined and brought to such beautiful fruition. In 2012 the Mukai Garden Committee formed to study the Mukai Garden, determine what was originally there, what remains, and what would be needed to restore it.  Members Cindy Stockett and Karen Baer  will describe what they have discovered in their search for information about the plant choices Kuni made as she developed her historically significant garden, and what remains 86 years later.
 
Both women are avid gardeners, members of Northwest Perennial Alliance, Vashon Maury Island Garden Club, and Northwest Horticultural Society.  Karen Baer, from a long tradition of estate gardeners in Scotland, Ireland and Canada, continues to refine her own unique Northwest garden.  Cindy and Steve Stockett’s award winning Froggsong Garden, widely visited by gardening enthusiasts, was featured in Fine Gardening, Better Homes and Gardening, Country Living, and Pacific Magazine.

The Friends of Mukai program is supported by 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax Fund.  It is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be served.