Follow nature’s lead for tranquil Japanese garden
Rocks, water and plants are the basis of beautiful and ancient eastern style
They have been part of North American horticulture — and culture — for nearly 150 years, yet Japanese gardens remain a mystery for many people.
That doesn’t have to be the case. You simply start with the intent of a Japanese garden: evoking a feeling, according to Tim Gruner, the garden curator/head of horticulture at Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Ill.
“A Japanese garden seeks to create the emotional response to nature in any space,” says Gruner, who oversees one of the pre-eminent examples in the U.S.
“So the feeling you get standing in a place of great natural beauty, the positive emotions and reactions to that, (the question is): how can you create that kind of emotional response to nature in your backyard?”
For some, a garden means a patch of zinnias here, some marigolds there, a couple of rose bushes and a little ground cover.
But the Japanese garden follows the dictates of nature. They are constructed around guidelines and ideas that date back more than1,000 years.
“The Japanese garden is based on natural patterns, rock formations, the way plants grow naturally, the way water moves naturally through a stream valley. The shape of the land,” Gruner explains.
“A Western garden — and this is a gross generalization — is often symmetrical, geometrical, versus the asymmetrical Japanese garden.
“Think of classic gardens like Versailles, totally fabricated patterns laid out on a grand scale across an obviously human-controlled environment,” says Gruner.
“A Japanese garden is asymmetrical, natural-plant oriented; some areas evoke the essence of a forest or stream valley or wetland, some evoke the feeling of rolling hills.”
The basics in building a garden are rocks, water and plants. The latter is no problem; they’re available everywhere. And so are experts who can help build water features. But should that be impossible, there’s always the dry landscape, where stones and pebbles are installed in patterns to create the visual energy of moving water.
Secondary elements include pagodas, stone lanterns, water basins, arbors and bridges.
Careful setting of plants can also create an illusion.
For instance, using light-coloured, large plants in the front and dark, smaller plants at a distance creates a sense of depth.
There is, no doubt, a lot of planning and physical work involved. Gruner says that “people who are driven and interested in exploring and who have a strong back can do it on their own.”
David Slawson is a noted garden designer and scholar whose 1987 book Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens is considered a classic.
“One of the striking differences between Japanese gardens and most Western gardens,” he says, “is the Japanese use of plants to evoke their habitat in nature, versus the Western use of plants purely for their decorative qualities.”
How do you know if a Japanese garden is for you?
Gruner says to do your research. A good source is Sukiya Living magazine, which publishes six times a year and focuses on Japanese gardens and architecture.
Also, the North American Japanese Garden Association is working hard to promote the building and care of gardens.
Gruner and Slawson also suggest exploring other gardens and nature to see what moves you.
“Visit great natural spaces and try to figure out what kind of scenes mean the most to you and make you feel something,” Gruner says.
“If you have a space that allows it, create a space that evokes the parts of the natural world you really connect with.”
Slawson takes his students on field trips.
“Usually I have each person sit by themselves. Find something they respond to. Do a sketch. That’s one of the best ways to get in touch,” Slawson says.
“Photography is great, but that mechanism is putting us at a distance. So much of this is about opening ourselves up to the experience . . . Instead of putting our imprints on things, it’s all about allowing nature to speak.”
Slawson recalled a client who had a 6-by-10-foot plate glass window installed, instead of a fireplace, so he could look at the garden which he treated as a work of art.
“Look at a landscape painting . . . that is the effect you want to create,” he says. “You want a whole experience . . . You want not to feel like human interaction or ideas were involved, but that it came together naturally without human forces.” Chicago Tribune
“A Japanese garden seeks to create the emotional response to nature in any space.” TIM GRUNER GARDEN CURATOR