Adel Kanaan says he became interested in Japanese gardens in 1988.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says he became interested in Japanese gardens in 1988.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says he became interested in Japanese gardens in 1988.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan cultivated a Japanese garden at his home in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says he became interested in Japanese gardens in 1988.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan cultivated a Japanese garden at his home in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan cultivated a Japanese garden at his home in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says he’s been working on his Southport garden “little by little” over the last 28 years.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says that a garden must first be harmonious with where you live.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says he became interested in bonsai trees after a trip to Japan in 1988, when he watched someone tend to bonsai trees in a garden.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Bonsai trees are very delicate and should not be trimmed during warm weather.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says he’s been working on his Southport garden “little by little” over the last 28 years.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
A small-leaf Premna from Adel Kanaan’s garden in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
A weeping Japanese maple from Adel Kanaan’s Southport garden.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Bonsai trees are very delicate and should not be trimmed during warm weather.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
A Japanese black pine from Adel Kanaan’s Southport garden.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says that a garden must first be harmonious with where you live.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Bonsai trees are very delicate and should not be trimmed during warm weather.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says that a garden must first be harmonious with where you live.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says that a garden must first be harmonious with where you live.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Adel Kanaan says he’s been working on his Southport garden “little by little” over the last 28 years.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
In Southport, Adel Kanaan cultivates a Japanese garden that helps him connect with nature.
Growing up in Lebanon, Kanaan always helped his mother in her French-style garden. While he enjoyed its beautiful flowers, geometric shapes and neatly trimmed hedges, it didn’t compare to the serene beauty of the Japanese gardens he discovered during a work trip to Japan in the late ’80s. Asymmetrical like nature, these gardens provided a peaceful retreat characterized by calm and serenity.
Article continues below this ad
Adel Kanaan cultivated a Japanese garden at his home in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
“My mother grew flowers, fruits and vegetables—everything you can think of, we had in that garden,” says Kanaan. “But a Japanese garden reflects the environment you live in. You use local trees, plants and stones. It’s beautiful all year round, even in the fall and winter.”
He first traveled to Japan in 1988 while on a work trip. During his visit, he asked the employee at the Imperial Palace reception desk for recommendations on what to do. She suggested visiting Takashimaya, a department store. Intrigued by the store and its opening ceremonial music, he asked where to get a cup of coffee. A staff member directed him to the top floor. There, he discovered a Japanese garden in the coffee shop. He noticed an older gentleman tending to bonsai and asked if he could watch.
Potted trees from Adel Kanaan’s Japanese garden in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
“That’s when I fell in love with Japanese gardens,” says Kanaan, who also liked everything about Japan — the culture, people and food, not just the gardens. “I asked the bonsai master if I could buy a bonsai, and he said, ‘No, this is my baby and the United States does not allow trees to come in. You can’t import it, and it will die. I’m not going to let my baby die.’”
Article continues below this ad
During the same trip, Kanaan visited a former palace that now functions as a museum. Behind it, he once again saw Japanese gardens and was amazed. Unlike Takashimaya’s rooftop garden, this was a natural garden built around hills, waterfalls and the trees were several hundred years old.
Adel Kanaan says he became interested in Japanese gardens in 1988.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Back at home, he told his wife about how much he loved the gardens and how he wanted to learn how to create one. While living in Trumbull, he started learning about them. He found a nursery in Stamford that sold Japanese bonsai plants and that’s where he met gardening expert Saeko Oshiro, originally from Japan, who said she would teach him.
A Korean Hornbeam from Adel Kanaan’s garden in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
“Twenty-eight years ago, my wife and I moved to our Southport house, and two years later, Saeko, now a friend, helped me with my first design,” he says. “We worked on the layout little by little. It’s complex and takes time to build experience in order to do it well. I’ve been working on it ever since.”
Article continues below this ad
Adel Kanaan cultivated a Japanese garden at his home in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
When planning a Japanese garden, Kanaan says it must reflect you and your inner self. This will ensure that it’s beautiful to you and gives you a sense of peace and tranquility. Having toured a lot of gardens in Connecticut, he notes that there are many nice ones, yet his is unique with a different feel.
A 100-year-old bonsai from Adel Kanaan’s garden in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
“You can’t design a garden without knowing what you like and dislike,” notes Kanaan. “If you asked me to design a garden for you, I’d need to understand your preferences—what colors, shapes and greenery you like. How do you feel about nature? Once I know you better, I can design a garden tailored to you.”
Article continues below this ad
Kanaan says that a garden must first be harmonious with where you live.
Second, each plant must be at peace because the balance of each tree makes the garden harmonious and tranquil as a whole.
Bonsai trees are very delicate and should not be trimmed during warm weather.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
“If you want a garden to be tranquil and peaceful; you have to make every part of it tranquil and peaceful,” says Kanaan, who notes that fountains in the garden mimic the bubbling of a river. ”When you sit near a harmonious tree, you feel harmonious in its surrounding area. If you cannot be in the woods or the mountains, you can bring nature to you. That’s how Japanese gardens differ from other gardens.”
Article continues below this ad
Kanaan also notes that the different plants should also express your own feelings and emotions. “When I look at any of my bonsai, I can explain why it is in sync with my soul or nature.”
Adel Kanaan says that a garden must first be harmonious with where you live.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Staying true to Japanese philosophy, he uses local trees and plants found in Connecticut or New England because they are natural to this climate. In his garden, he has 18 different kinds of maples, 16 different kinds of pines, Canadian hemlocks and red cedars. He’s also added flowers to give it color and beauty and he grows herbs for cooking.
Adel Kanaan says his Spanish olive tree is the oldest tree in his garden and notes that it is at age 125.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
His oldest plant, a Spanish olive tree, is about 125 years old. One of the most difficult trees to take care of, he says it doesn’t like to be wet and needs to be brought inside when it rains. But the one he’s owned the longest is a 75-year-old Korean Hornbeam, which he got from the shop in Stamford where he met Saeko Oshiro. Rare and unique, it’s been in his garden for 35 years.
Article continues below this ad
Only a few good importers bring plants from overseas, says Kanaan. Just as he could not take the bonsai plant from Japan in 1988, only a few trees come from Japan today. He says many plants come in sick, so people must be careful.
Adel Kanaan cultivated a Japanese garden at his home in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
A few years ago, Kanaan fell ill and wanted an indoor garden. It was the only time where he bought plants that were not native to Connecticut or New England. He bought plants from Florida, Puerto Rico, Southern China and Vietnam. These plants are now part of his outdoor garden and come inside during the colder seasons.
“The plants are like my babies,” he laughs. “And I take great pride in the stones in my garden that I’ve collected from all over Connecticut. The majority – about 80 to 90% – are local. One stone has been featured in Architectural Digest. Stones are part of nature and there’s an art to putting them together to look like mountains.”
Article continues below this ad
A small-leaf Premna from Adel Kanaan’s garden in Southport.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
He says his garden is extremely large, about 1/5 of an acre, compared to the size of a typical Japanese garden. Kanaan notes that In Japan, most people live in smaller houses and they don’t have the space to make a big garden.
Adel Kanaan added this planting on a stone to his garden in April.
Bryan Haeffele/Hearst Connecticut Media
Bonsai plants need to look pretty from all sides, and Kanaan notes that trimming and caring for the plants is the hardest part. Some you trim three to four times per year, while others don’t require a lot of trimming. When it’s hot, trimming the plant or tree is not healthy because it will weaken it.
Article continues below this ad
While his wife does not have a green thumb, he says she enjoys the gardens and sits outside to enjoy her breakfast. Kanaan, on the other hand, works in his garden every day.
“It’s a hobby that has brought a lot of tranquility to my life,” he says. “I come from a place where there were wars all the time, so tranquility is important.”
Comments are closed.