Peace of Japan
SCOTLAND is the ideal place for a Japanese garden, because you've got the granite, the pebbles and the natural streams,' says Penny Underwood, garden designer and author of Designing and Creating Japanese Gardens. There might be similarities in the landscapes, but is it really possible to recreate the tranquillity and symbolism of a Japanese garden here in the UK? Underwood's answer is 'yes', but she can't promise that it'll be easy.
The author herself has refurbished the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, London and created an award-winning Japanese-style courtyard garden for the Gardeners' World Live exhibition. Having admired Japanese gardens from afar, it was a trip to Kyoto which got her hooked. 'Entering the first garden had a profound emotional and intellectual effect on me, which lasted several months,' she says. Another trip soon followed, culminating in a six-week study tour, under the tutelage of Yasutaro Tanaka, a renowned designer who created the Zen garden at St Mungo Museum in Glasgow.
Underwood's new book aims to help widen our understanding of Japanese gardens, providing the historical and cultural backdrop, as well as practical advice on how to incorporate the techniques into your own garden design. "When I talk to people about it, often they say 'oh yes, bonsai', but that's got nothing to do with Japanese gardens," she says. "Or they might mention gravel, but they don't understand why it's used." The gravel question is fairly easily answered - water is seen as a vital part of a Japanese garden, but in areas where it's not easily available, raked gravel symbolises the flow.
Underwood explains that there isn't one specific template for a Japanese garden, but rather that certain elements have emerged over the years, with Taoist, Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, myths and legends woven into developing designs. From temples to teahouses, these gardens have had to fulfil many different purposes. One thing that has held true over the years is an awareness of the natural world and an acknowledgement of the inter-dependence of plants, rocks, gravel and water. The choice of materials and arrangements instantly creates a distinctive air. "It's a feeling you get, an awe-inspiring feeling," says Underwood. "These gardens appeal to the senses."
Most of us can come up with a few ideas about what elements make up a Japanese garden, but the reasons why they're there aren't so commonly known. Stepping stones, for instance were used historically to provide a route to tea houses, and later were used as a means of directing the gaze towards particular features. Stone arrangements are highly valued in Japanese gardens, with granite the most popular choice. Andesite, a volcanic rock, is used for more dramatic rock groupings.
Arrangements have different symbolic meanings - one popular choice involves a triangular arrangement, representing man, heaven and earth. One of the tips Underwood includes for choosing garden rocks is to always try to get rocks from the same source to enhance the impression of a natural scene. If you're really keen to learn more, she advises tracking down the 11th-century treatise Sakuteiki for full instructions - luckily, it's available in English translation.
Perhaps one of the most glaring differences between British and Japanese gardens is the amount of space given over to planting; you're unlikely to find rolling lawns and herbaceous borders in Japan. "Plants in Japanese garden design are endowed with symbolic and philosophical properties and are treated with due respect," says Underwood. Pines are particularly popular and may be nurtured to look windswept, suggesting hardiness and longevity. Another technique is "cloud pruning", where layered pads of growth are developed over many years, creating a "stairway to heaven". Underwood says that few Japanese homeowners would undertake this sort of work themselves, instead employing specialist gardeners.
Along with pines, maples, with their stunning autumn colour, and flowering cherries, with their short-lived blossom, are two of the most popular types of plants for this type of garden - the cherries are seen as bringing hope for the future and the assurance of rebirth. Bamboos, too, are admired, not just for their looks but because of their characteristic strength and ability to bend in the breeze without breaking, a trait known in Japan as "bamboo mentality". One plant whose popularity we might find surprising is moss - it's seen as a luxuriant ground cover and is commercially cultivated and sold in slabs. Accent plants are important too, and ferns or hostas often accompany rock placings, water basins and stone lanterns. Shrubs such as azalea, Japanese box and camellia japonica are also popular, chosen with a specific location and function in mind, rather than just to flesh out a border.
Perhaps one of the most striking differences between British and Japanese gardens is to do with function. Here we want our gardens to be multi-purpose: a space for dining, for children to play, perhaps to grow vegetables, and with borders providing year-round colour. In complete contrast, Japanese gardens are often seen simply as a place for peaceful contemplation.
So is the Japanese style really compatible with a British lifestyle?
"It may be preferable to dedicate a part of the garden to a Japanese style, where it can be isolated from all western influences by using bamboo or other screening," says Underwood. She also points out that if you aren't a Buddhist, you will have to ask yourself whether or not you want the heavily symbolic aspects of those beliefs in your garden. Practical considerations, such as the availability of plants and getting hard landscaping materials imported, also have to be considered.
Furthermore, be prepared for maintenance. If you are using gravel in your design, then you may have to remove leaves on a daily basis in the autumn and rake every day to remove all traces of human interference. It sounds like a lot of very hard work, but anyone who's ever experienced the tranquillity of a Japanese-style garden might just be prepared to rise to the challenge.
Underwood certainly thinks that this style of garden has the power to reconnect us with the natural world. "It's expressing the world order, that's how I see it, and our recognition of this planet on which we depend." So if you didn't think gardening was deep and meaningful, think again.
The author herself has refurbished the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, London and created an award-winning Japanese-style courtyard garden for the Gardeners' World Live exhibition. Having admired Japanese gardens from afar, it was a trip to Kyoto which got her hooked. 'Entering the first garden had a profound emotional and intellectual effect on me, which lasted several months,' she says. Another trip soon followed, culminating in a six-week study tour, under the tutelage of Yasutaro Tanaka, a renowned designer who created the Zen garden at St Mungo Museum in Glasgow.
Underwood's new book aims to help widen our understanding of Japanese gardens, providing the historical and cultural backdrop, as well as practical advice on how to incorporate the techniques into your own garden design. "When I talk to people about it, often they say 'oh yes, bonsai', but that's got nothing to do with Japanese gardens," she says. "Or they might mention gravel, but they don't understand why it's used." The gravel question is fairly easily answered - water is seen as a vital part of a Japanese garden, but in areas where it's not easily available, raked gravel symbolises the flow.
Underwood explains that there isn't one specific template for a Japanese garden, but rather that certain elements have emerged over the years, with Taoist, Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, myths and legends woven into developing designs. From temples to teahouses, these gardens have had to fulfil many different purposes. One thing that has held true over the years is an awareness of the natural world and an acknowledgement of the inter-dependence of plants, rocks, gravel and water. The choice of materials and arrangements instantly creates a distinctive air. "It's a feeling you get, an awe-inspiring feeling," says Underwood. "These gardens appeal to the senses."
Most of us can come up with a few ideas about what elements make up a Japanese garden, but the reasons why they're there aren't so commonly known. Stepping stones, for instance were used historically to provide a route to tea houses, and later were used as a means of directing the gaze towards particular features. Stone arrangements are highly valued in Japanese gardens, with granite the most popular choice. Andesite, a volcanic rock, is used for more dramatic rock groupings.
Arrangements have different symbolic meanings - one popular choice involves a triangular arrangement, representing man, heaven and earth. One of the tips Underwood includes for choosing garden rocks is to always try to get rocks from the same source to enhance the impression of a natural scene. If you're really keen to learn more, she advises tracking down the 11th-century treatise Sakuteiki for full instructions - luckily, it's available in English translation.
Perhaps one of the most glaring differences between British and Japanese gardens is the amount of space given over to planting; you're unlikely to find rolling lawns and herbaceous borders in Japan. "Plants in Japanese garden design are endowed with symbolic and philosophical properties and are treated with due respect," says Underwood. Pines are particularly popular and may be nurtured to look windswept, suggesting hardiness and longevity. Another technique is "cloud pruning", where layered pads of growth are developed over many years, creating a "stairway to heaven". Underwood says that few Japanese homeowners would undertake this sort of work themselves, instead employing specialist gardeners.
Along with pines, maples, with their stunning autumn colour, and flowering cherries, with their short-lived blossom, are two of the most popular types of plants for this type of garden - the cherries are seen as bringing hope for the future and the assurance of rebirth. Bamboos, too, are admired, not just for their looks but because of their characteristic strength and ability to bend in the breeze without breaking, a trait known in Japan as "bamboo mentality". One plant whose popularity we might find surprising is moss - it's seen as a luxuriant ground cover and is commercially cultivated and sold in slabs. Accent plants are important too, and ferns or hostas often accompany rock placings, water basins and stone lanterns. Shrubs such as azalea, Japanese box and camellia japonica are also popular, chosen with a specific location and function in mind, rather than just to flesh out a border.
Perhaps one of the most striking differences between British and Japanese gardens is to do with function. Here we want our gardens to be multi-purpose: a space for dining, for children to play, perhaps to grow vegetables, and with borders providing year-round colour. In complete contrast, Japanese gardens are often seen simply as a place for peaceful contemplation.
So is the Japanese style really compatible with a British lifestyle?
"It may be preferable to dedicate a part of the garden to a Japanese style, where it can be isolated from all western influences by using bamboo or other screening," says Underwood. She also points out that if you aren't a Buddhist, you will have to ask yourself whether or not you want the heavily symbolic aspects of those beliefs in your garden. Practical considerations, such as the availability of plants and getting hard landscaping materials imported, also have to be considered.
Furthermore, be prepared for maintenance. If you are using gravel in your design, then you may have to remove leaves on a daily basis in the autumn and rake every day to remove all traces of human interference. It sounds like a lot of very hard work, but anyone who's ever experienced the tranquillity of a Japanese-style garden might just be prepared to rise to the challenge.
Underwood certainly thinks that this style of garden has the power to reconnect us with the natural world. "It's expressing the world order, that's how I see it, and our recognition of this planet on which we depend." So if you didn't think gardening was deep and meaningful, think again.
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posted by Davor Novakovic @ Friday, December 02, 2005
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