The Japanese Garden at Cowden

The Japanese Garden at Cowden

Created in 1908 by the Scottish traveller Ella Christie and designed by the Japanese horticulturist Taki Handa — the only Japanese garden in the world known to have been designed by a Japanese woman — Cowden was described in 1925 as "the most important Japanese garden in the Western World". Built around a natural spring‑fed pond on land that was once swampy, it was transformed into a stroll garden of exquisite tranquillity, with carefully placed stones, lanterns, and trees selected to evoke the landscapes of Japan. Abandoned and vandalised in the 1950s, it was lovingly restored from 2017 under the guidance of Professor Masao Fukuhara and reopened in 2019, bringing back to life a unique cultural fusion — a piece of Japan created in the Ochil Hills, its plants and principles harmonising with the Scottish climate and landscape.