Try Something Different With A Japanese Garden

Try Something Different With A Japanese Garden

Japanese Gardens are an interesting amalgamation of nature, spirituality and art. These gardens are meant to suggest harmony and create tranquility in your surroundings. Originally, Japanese Gardens represented a utopian land for the Japanese. Philosophies influencing creation of Japanese Gardens bring a sense of spirituality to the gardens. The presence of a few elements is mandatory for a Japanese garden, and water is the most important amongst them. Water, in Japanese culture, symbolizes purity. This has led to the presence of water in most Japanese gardens. The other essential elements in a Japanese garden are stones, garden plants, waterfalls, trees, and bridges. Some gardens owners also construct water features like waterfalls, streams, or ponds. There are five different styles of Japanese gardens, namely, Strolling Gardens, Natural Gardens, Sand and Stone Gardens, Tea Gardens and Flat Gardens.

Since the Japanese are highly individualistic, the look of the Japanese garden mostly depends on the person who plants and tends the garden. Japanese gardens are different from Western gardens in terms of their religious and philosophical elements. Japanese gardens are an expression of art, and a symbolic representation of the gardeners view of the universe. Traditional Japanese gardens emphasize natural, abstract beauty and minimize signage on plants.

There are nearly 60 public Japanese gardens in the United States.

The Japanese gardens reflect men's efforts at harmonizing the beauty and force of the nature in an effortless fashion. You can find three basic styles of Japanese gardens: 

·  Flat Garden (Hiraniwa)

·  Tea Gardens (Rojiniwa)

In Japanese gardens you will come to find a rare bonding with nature. Despite the use of many artificial structural elements like bridges or water bodies or artificially created hills, Japanese gardens are created to reflect the nature in her most unadulterated form. If you are going to recreate the Japanese magic in your garden, then follow the thumb rules described below.

To the eyes accustomed to European style of gardening, where the perfectly manicured plants vie for your attention in every possible nook and corners of the garden, Japanese gardens may seem to offer an illusion of emptiness at a first glance. The Japanese gardens try to reflect the permanence of nature. That is why it is the evergreen trees that become the dominating feature of Japanese gardens. The plants in the Japanese gardens represent the seasonal cycles. Because of this selection, the Japanese gardens are not discarded during the winters. In an ode to nature, the Japanese gardens strive to represent the nature in a miniscule, but in its closest form. No Japanese garden is ever complete with stone lanterns in variety of designs and styles. In short, Japanese gardens are the reflection of natural balance between change and constancy. A little introduction to Zen philosophy can prepare you for the better perception about the Japanese style of gardening.

I find Japanese gardens fascinating, I have visited Japan twice once in 1998 and again in 2002. Japanese gardens are simple yet amazing, I particularly like the small Japanese gardens and this is what I am going to be writing about here.

Japanese gardens are very much about nature and a natural looking garden is considered to be the 'ideal' garden. So don't add one to your small Japanese garden. Rocks are one of the most common things used in Japanese gardens especially the smaller ones. I love how the Japanese feel that they have to separate there small garden from the outside world. There are basically 5 types of components that should be included in small Japanese gardens.

Rock or Ishi - As I said above rocks are the foundations of Japanese gardens. Water or Mizu - Water is calming and is a great way to make the garden look natural. Plants or Shokobutsu - Plants do play a secondary role to rocks and water in Japanese gardens unlike gardens from other cultures. Ornaments or Tenkebutsu - lanterns are often used in Japanese gardens particularly smaller Japanese gardens. These ornaments add an added interest to traditional Japanese gardens.

If you have a small garden which is in a sunny location I highly recommend that you look into making a Japanese garden.

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