American naturalist managing aesthetics in Japanese garden

Cultural News, April 2006

Dr. Vergil Hettick, right, curator of the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, and Jeanette Schelin, director of the garden. (Cultural News Photo)

By Gavin Kelley

     Dr. Vergil Hettick, curator of the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, California State University Long Beach (CSULB), has been involved with the garden since 1981, when he first used to take lunch breaks from his work as an administrator in the Orange County school system to do research in the garden.  Recognizing Hettick’s expertise, Stephen Horn, then president of CSULB, requested his assistance with the garden which eventually resulted in Hettick’s assuming the curator title.

    “In an art museum, the curator is the one who makes the selection of work, chooses the aesthetic arrangement and is responsible for its maintenance,” Hettick explained.  “In a garden, the curator works with the various elements of the garden, taking into consideration their needs and attributes, arranging them so that the result is aesthetically pleasing.”

    “It took us several years to bring things into balance,” Hettick continued. “We wanted to create a screen of trees and plants to block out the view of buildings and other evidences of city life so that visitors would forget they were in a big city. One thing we can’t have in a garden dedicated to meditation is distractions.”

     Standing over six-feet tall, Hettick is a Long Beach native, born in 1933, the same year as the “big earthquake.”  Hettick has spent a lifetime studying and working in gardens and ponds, even if just in his own back yard. “When I was younger I began collecting aquatic things, tadpoles, fishbowls … I built my first fishpond in 1961 and designed my garden in a somewhat Japanese-style, from what I saw in books.”

     Hettick holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from CSULB in Biology, with an interest in Botany.   He received his Ph. D. from Claremont Graduate School in Educational Research.  After completing his Ph.D., Hettick went to work in the Orange County school system as an administrator in the City of Orange before moving on to the Santa Ana School District. While working as an administrator, Hettick’s interest in nature and aquatics did not diminish. When he and his wife moved into their first home in Yorba Linda, one of the first things he did was build a pond.

    “We had the koi pond and landscaping all done before even the curtains were put up,” Hettick explained.

    Hettick’s deep interest in Japanese gardens led to his seeking resources within the Japanese community.  He attended meetings frequented by Japanese American gardeners in Gardena.  First he attended koi club meetings then later Art Tree Trimming clubs, as well as Orchid clubs. At that time, the orchid club meetings were held in a large hall, conducted completely in Japanese, a smaller portion of the room was designated for meetings in English.  Today, the meetings in English are conducted in the main hall, while the meetings in Japanese are in a smaller hall. 

   An avid koi fan, Hettick is a long-time member and is currently a judge in the Zen Nippon Airin Kai (All Japan Koi Enthusiast Association).

    A full-time retiree from his administrative duties for the past five-years, Hettick is able to spend more time in the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden now. “As a living thing, a garden is ever-changing and ever-challenging. And never completed.  There are so many more projects to tackle.”

   Gavin Kelley is a Los Angeles-based writer who is currently working on a compilation of short-stories.