Japanese Gardens

The garden's tea house. Garden path, pond, and Administrative Building of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. The Japanese Garden is a public Japanese garden located on the grounds of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant adjacent to Woodley Park, in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area of the central San Fernando Valley. It is in the community of Lake Balboa, adjacent to the Van Nuys and Encino neighborhood. Its name in Japanese is SuihoEn meaning "garden of water and fragrance." The idea of having a Japanese Garden adjacent to a water reclamation plant was conceived by Donald C. Tillman. The garden’s purpose was to demonstrate a positive use of reclaimed water, in what is usually considered a delicate environment, a Japanese garden. The ponds and irrigation use reclaimed water from the adjacent water reclamation plant.