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People worldwide are interested in Japanese gardens. The distinctive look of Japanese gardens is easy to recognise but difficult to achieve. It appeals to many gardeners, perhaps because these gardens provide an oasis of serenity in an otherwise busy world.
Full of symbolic features, Japanese gardens are meant to be both a visual and a spiritual experience.
The three main elements of Japanese gardens are trees and shrubs, water and stones.
With an exception of few deciduous trees, most trees and shrubs in Japanese gardens are evergreen. Bamboo is also favoured, along with certain ornamental grasses and grass like plants. Flowers play a minimal role, with interest and variety created by shaping the plants and combining interesting leaf color and texture. When flowers are used, they are generally grown in swaths.
The second element in Japanese gardens is water, which symbolises source of life. If actual water isn't feasible, then water is suggested with rivers of stone or gravel, raked in patterns to represent river currents. The steeply arching bridges, so evocative of Japan, span ponds or dry river beds and symbolise a rainbow. When running water is possible, sophisticated Japanese gardens make a high art of regulating the flow to shape the sound, thus creating musical effects.
Stones are third key element in Japanese gardens. Decorative stones are placed carefully for esthetic as well as symbolic reasons. Each stone is assigned a name and meaning, such as Moon Stone, which represents solitude. Each stone's placement, in relationship to others, also communicates its meaning.
People perhaps best appreciate the Japanese stroll garden with paths that meander, opening new vistas or revealing another intimate moment of wonder with each twist and turn. This type of garden is a pleasing, unfolding experience as new sights greet the stroller around each bend and curve in the path. Another type of Japanese garden is the austere meditation garden, consisting of perhaps one stone or ornament, one or two plants, and gravel meticulously raked into flowing patterns.
There are certain intrinsic principles that one needs to grasp to successfully capture the spirit of the Japanese garden. Most importantly, nature is the ideal that you must strive for. You can idealise it, even symbolise it, but you must never create something that nature itself cannot. For example, it is difficult to find a square pond in the wild, so do not put one in your garden. You may certainly use a waterfall, but not a fountain. Another key point to remember is balance. Choose appropriately-sized components so as to maintain a balance with respect to the plot size.
The cleanliness of simple form is a repeated motif in Japanese art, be it painting, flower arranging, or gardening.
Bringing different landscape features into harmony to achieve equilibrium is the true secret to the Japanese garden art.
