It's not a water garden, although it's interspersed with ponds and waterfalls. And it's not quite a Zen garden, either, although that was the original idea and it is suffused with an air of meditative reflection.

"It's kind of hard to describe," said artist Rick Hermanson, who has spent seven years creating what you might call a work of landscape art on a half-acre behind an otherwise unremarkable house off Weaver Dairy Road. "It feels like you're in another world. You really have to experience it."

On Saturday, for the first time, you can. The Uncommon Garden, as it is called, will be open for public tours that day, and that day only, with all proceeds benefitting The ArtsCenter.

You may recall Hermanson's occasional "Out of the Bush" art shows or the sand sculptures he used to create on the lawn at Weaver Street Market. Seven years ago he was invited to transform the back yard of the Uncommon Garden house into something entirely unique.

He didn't hold back.

"I've basically sculpted an environment," he said. "We brought in several hundred dump trucks full of dirt and built mountains and hills. We brought in huge boulders, and now there are stone walls that turn into snakes and dragons. There are ravines and mountain ranges, paths inlaid with mosaic, waterfalls inside stone walls. There are 30-some species of Japanese maple.

"It's pretty wild."

The garden is divided, by paths and foliage and other features, into more than a dozen distinct "rooms," bearing names such as the "Portal Between Two Worlds," and "The Source."

"It's by far the best thing I've ever done," Hermanson said.

And he's not done yet; the garden is a work in progress. In all likelihood, Hermanson said, he'll continue to work on it for several years.

"There's more to do," he said. "I'm still back there waving my arms, going, 'Higher and wilder!'"

On Saturday, the Uncommon Garden will be open for hour-long tours, with the first starting at 10 a.m. and the last starting at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 each, and will be limited to 50 each hour. Parking is at Timberlyne Shopping Center; a shuttle will leave 15 minutes before each tour begins.

For detailed event information and to purchase tickets, visit www.artscenterlive.org or call 929-2787, ext. 201. Rain date is June 21.