| Japanese garden design is about as hard to | | | | The careful observer will notice that |
| understand to Westerners as the Japanese | | | | flowering plants are scarce or nonexistent in |
| language is. The relationship to the rich and | | | | Japanese garden design. Rather, dry gravel |
| ancient eastern culture adds to this | | | | streambed or sand swept into patterns and |
| difficulty. The practice is not just a style | | | | large rocks and boulders are used to tell the |
| of landscaping. Rather, it a statement that | | | | tales. Remember that the heart of all |
| delivers a specific meaning. Adding further | | | | Japanese garden design is symbolism and |
| to its complexity is the influence of | | | | storytelling, the tradition is that this is |
| fengshui and its borrowings from Buddhism and | | | | done with plants and other elements of nature |
| Chinese culture. | | | | and not so much the use of colorful flowers. |
| | | | |
| The intention of Japanese garden design is to | | | | Equally important to Japanese garden design |
| use nature to make a statement. The main | | | | are the use of water, and more specifically |
| element is symbology, most of which is | | | | the use of running water, which symbolizes |
| influenced by Shintoism and Buddhism, which | | | | passing time or life. |
| is where the gods inhabit nature. This adds | | | | |
| even more its cultural complexity making hard | | | | What shouldn't get lost in Japanese garden |
| for us to understand. | | | | design, but often is by Westerners because |
| | | | they think it's 'complicated', is its |
| Since the garden is making a statement or | | | | simplicity. Once you know the story you are |
| telling a story, the first step is to | | | | trying tell, it's as simple as composing the |
| determine what story you want to tell. What | | | | elements of nature to tell that story. |
| is it you want to communicate to the world | | | | |
| with your garden? It might be a good idea to | | | | What one should refrain from doing is blindly |
| decide in broad terms what you want to say, | | | | copying someone else's garden. Why would you |
| and then through some research find out how | | | | do that? Perhaps because you think it "looks" |
| Japanese would go about communicating that | | | | good. But if the "good looks" are just the |
| truth, concept or story with a garden. | | | | result of the telling of a story, then the |
| | | | copier certainly is missing the point. It |
| Another outstanding feature of Japanese | | | | would be like framing a poem you don't |
| garden design is that the main point is not | | | | understand and hanging it on the wall. First |
| to be beautiful or showy. The appearance of | | | | think of what you want to say, and then |
| the garden is not its purpose, but rather the | | | | through the principles of Japanese garden |
| message is the purpose. Beauty is the after | | | | design learn how to say and then say it. |
| thought, so to speak. | | | | Don't start from the beauty, but rather from |
| | | | the story. |