Mori No Tonari
Overview
The IBUKI Japanese Garden, also known as Mori no Tonari or “Garden beside the Forest,” is a privately created demonstration garden at the IBUKI ornamental plant nursery in Janowice, near Bielsko-Biała. Designed by Polish bonsai artist and garden designer Mariusz Fołda, it presents Japanese-inspired garden design alongside mature bonsai and the nursery’s extensive collection of Japanese maples and other East Asian plants. The garden forms part of a larger complex of three publicly accessible display gardens associated with the IBUKI nursery and bonsai studio.
History
The IBUKI nursery traces its history to 1937, when the Fołda family began cultivating fruit and ornamental trees in Janowice. Over subsequent generations, the nursery increasingly specialised in ornamental plants, including Japanese maples, flowering dogwoods and plants suitable for Japanese-style gardens.
Mariusz Fołda designed and began constructing the Mori no Tonari garden in 2002 as a permanent demonstration garden adjoining the nursery. It was intended to show how Japanese plants, shaped trees, stones and water features could develop together over time, rather than merely functioning as a temporary commercial display.
The garden subsequently became closely connected with the IBUKI Studio Bonsai & Ceramics, where Fołda cultivates bonsai and produces handmade ceramic bonsai containers. Bonsai workshops and international teaching events have also been organised at the site, including a bonsai academy led by Walter Pall in 2012.
Design features
The garden is arranged as a walk-through composition entered through the nursery. Its principal elements include a pond, a small bridge, stone- and gravel-lined banks, stepping routes and densely layered planting. The composition is designed to be experienced sequentially, with changing views of water, shaped plants and bonsai specimens.
Planting is one of the garden’s defining features. It includes numerous varieties of Japanese maple, together with Japanese azaleas, magnolias, irises, bamboo, pagoda dogwoods and Cornus kousa. Mature clipped trees and displayed bonsai provide strong sculptural forms, while the pond and surrounding gravel create a quieter central landscape.
Mori no Tonari is now presented as part of the wider IBUKI Gardens, comprising three display gardens where selected bonsai are exhibited and visitors can experience examples of Japanese-inspired landscape design.
Garden elements
Bridges
Waters and islands
Stones
Other elements
Current status
The garden remains maintained as part of the IBUKI nursery and bonsai studio. It is open to visitors during the nursery’s operating hours and continues to function as a demonstration garden, bonsai display area and setting for workshops.