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Designing a Japanese garden.
Background.
Garden design has been an important Japanese art for many centuries. Traditional Japanese landscape gardens can be broadly categorized into three types, Tsukiyama Gardens (hill gardens), Karesansui Gardens (dry gardens) and Chaniwa Gardens (tea gardens). They also have more normal suburban gardens like Europe but the finesse is different. The main idea is to utilize nature and harmonise with it. Using vistas and views as anchor points in your plan. If you don't have a nice view make one. You can use perspective tricks to create greater depth of field and higher contrast in your landscape. Japanese garden are increasing in popularity for a number reasons. they are easy to plant, look clean and tidy, and require sometimes less maintenance then traditional gardens. Also with modern design they have cleaner lines.
A large Japanese Maple perhaps 100 years old.
Tsukiyama (Suizenji Koen, Kumamoto)
Karesansui (Nanzenji, Kyoto)
Tsukiyama Gardens
Ponds, streams, hills, stones, trees, flowers, bridges and paths are used to create a miniature reproduction of a natural scenery which is often a famous landscape in China or Japan. The name Tsukiyama refers to the creation of artificial hills.
Tsukiyama gardens vary in size and in the way they are viewed. Smaller gardens are usually enjoyed from a single viewpoint, such as the veranda of a temple, while many larger gardens are best experienced by following a circular winding scrolling path.
Karesansui Gardens
Karesansui gardens reproduce natural landscapes in a more abstract way by using stones, gravel, sand and sometimes a few patches of moss for representing mountains, islands, boats, seas and rivers. Karesansui gardens are strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism and used for meditation.
Chaniwa Gardens
Chaniwa gardens are built for the tea ceremony. They contain a tea house where the actual ceremony is held and are designed in aesthetic simplicity according to the concepts of sado (tea ceremony). Chaniwa gardens typically feature stepping stones that lead towards the tea house, stone lanterns and a stone basin (tsukubai), where guests purify themselves before participating in the ceremony.
You can take element and mix them to suit your plans, you dont have to go for an all out theme but could graft ideas on to an excisting plan or redo a section of your garden I did a nice deisng for a small garden in the ruins of a shed they kept the first two feet of the wall anbd gable end to block prevailing winds.and we made a fantasic shelterd garden in a windy hot coastal area.
Tsukubai
Stuning Japanese Azeala
Some of Japan's famous gardens
Kyoto
Kyoto Imperial Palace
The emperor's residence until 1868.
Nijo Castle
Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa shogun.
Nanzenji
Zen temple with beautiful stone garden.
Ryoanji
Zen Temple most famous for its rock garden.
Daitokuji
Large complex of Zen temples.
Katsura Villa
Extremely beautiful imperial villa with garden.
Tenryuji
Temple in the Arashiyama area.
Daigoji
Famous temple in the southeast of Kyoto.
Byodoin
Best example of a Heian Period Pure Land Garden.
Kanazawa
Kenrokuen
Japan's most famous landscape garden.
Takamatsu
Ritsurin Koen
Outstanding Japanese style landscape garden.
Okayama
Korakuen
Outstanding Japanese style landscape garden.
Tokyo
Rikugien
Arguably Tokyo's best Japanese style garden.
Koishikawa Korakuen
Beautiful Japanese style landscape garden.
Hama Rikyu Park
Beautiful Japanese garden along Tokyo Bay.
Palace East Gardens
Part of the Imperial Palace.
Yokohama
Sankeien
Beautiful, spacious Japanese garden.
Kamakura
Zuisenji Temple
Zen temple famous for its gardens.
Mito
Kairakuen
Famous for its three thousand plum trees.
Hiraizumi
Motsuji
Temple famous for its Pure Land Garden.
Inuyama
Urakuen
Garden with a celebrated teahouse.
Yoshino
Chikurin-in Temple
Temple ryokan with a beautiful garden.
Kobe
Sorakuen Garden
Japanese landscape garden in the city center.
Himeji
Kokoen
Garden next to Himeji Castle..
Hiroshima
Shukkeien
A beautiful Japanese style garden.
Yamaguchi
Joeiji Temple
Famous for the Zen garden Sesshutei.
Dazaifu
Komyozenji
Temple with a beautiful Zen garden.
Kumamoto
Suizenji Koen
Landscape garden that reproduces the Tokaido.
Kagoshima
Senganen
Japanese style landscape garden.
Naha
Shikinaen
Second residence of the former Ryukyu kings.
Ratings: best of Japan outstanding
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