Rod McKenna-Johnson's job is to help people get lost — in their own backyards.
As the founder and owner of Fantasy Gardens and Arizona Zenscapes, he crafts detailed, complex landscapes designed to be tranquil spots, perfect for meditating.
"When you create Japanese-style gardens, you are working with four dimensions: height, width, depth and life," said McKenna-Johnson. "I find it satisfying to work with an ever-changing palette."
An artist and naturalist, McKenna-Johnson built the company from his Tucson home under the name Fantasy Gardens. It grew into Arizona Zenscapes. He said the new name fits perfectly for what he and his business partner, Matt Lauten, do.
"We have been refining a technique, which we have coined desert landscape," said McKenna-Johnson. "We apply the techniques of Japanese gardens to native Sonoran landscape."
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Clyde Feldman has four Japanese gardens, including one that McKenna-Johnson helped create. As a psychotherapist, having a Japanese garden to come home to every day is a release for Feldman.
"My job is very draining, so it's nice to come home and have a yard where I can lose myself and unwind," he said.
Each garden is designed based on its own individual surroundings outside — as well as inside — the home.
"We ask to look inside the client's home," said McKenna-Johnson. "We want to get some insights as to how the client thinks and what they like.
"Then we can begin to design a garden specific to the people and the place."
McKenna-Johnson said they can spend hours looking for the right stones for a Japanese garden. His company will even rent large, covered trucks and drive as far as Sedona or Flagstaff to find the right plants for the garden.
Having a Japanese garden never seems to get old for Feldman, who continually refines his backyard. From adding something he's seen in his travels, like a bamboo fence, to moving a rock to another spot, Feldman appreciates the open nature of Japanese gardening.
"There's a beauty and complexity about Japanese gardens," said Feldman. "You never get tired of it."
Japanese gardens distill nature into a human living space, said McKenna-Johnson. Their construction requires years of studying nature with an extreme attention to detail.
Those who have seen Feldman's backyard love the peaceful feeling of it but can't help mentioning how it doesn't seem to fit the Tucson desert landscape most are used to seeing.
"Japanese gardens are made up of bamboo, pine and juniper," said Feldman. "Each of these plants can grow in the Arizona heat, but it's the placement and shape of the plants that make it unique."
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You can contact Rod McKenna-Johnson at 740-0379 or Matt Lauten at 977-3781, or e-mail arizonazenscapes@ cox.net. Visit Fantasy Gardens online at www.members.cox.net/fantasygardens.
The company offers free, two-hour consultations in Tucson. Visit a Japanese garden built by Arizona Zenscapes at Plaza Palomino, Swan and Fort Lowell roads, across from Orient East.