Talk at Fabyan to focus on Japanese garden designs

Longing for spring and the return of warm weather, green leaves and blossoming plants? Join Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley for an inspirational presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 25, at the St. Charles Public Library, 1 S. Sixth Ave.

Tim Gruner, curator of Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, will present "Patterns in Nature that Inspire Japanese Gardens; The Interaction between Garden and Architecture." The program, which will feature the Anderson Japanese Gardens, considered to be the highest quality public Japanese garden in North America, is being presented by Preservation Partners to highlight the Fabyan Japanese Garden's centennial birthday. The Fabyan garden has been restored and preserved over the past 30 years.

Gruner's program will highlight the intriguing design theory in Japanese gardening, which underlies the 1910 Fabyan garden as well as the Anderson Gardens, designed in 1972. He has worked for 20 years at Anderson Gardens. Under supervision of the garden's designer and builder, Hoichi Kurisu of Kurisu International, he has learned aspects of philosophy, pruning, maintenance, and construction as they relate to Japanese gardens.

The programs department of the library is co-sponsoring this free presentation along with Preservation Partners, the heritage advocacy and education group of the Tri-City area, and operator of the Fabyan Villa Museum and Japanese Garden. Beginning May 2, the Japanese garden will open to the public on Sundays from 1 to 4:30 p.m. For information about the program or other events sponsored by PPFV, call (630) 377-6424 or visit ppfv.org.