Garden Design Lessons from Japan

I ’m somewhat sure I was Nipponese in a retiring animation . It ’s not just because I love Godzilla movies and sipping hot saki in my Hello Kitty pinkish slippers on a cold winter night . More likely , it has to do with falling head over heels in love life with the dainty art of bonsai while I was still a angry and crazy Hollywood drummer . Those miniature representations of raw nature were the gateway drug that led me to Japanese garden . From there , it was a quick trip to immerse myself in gardens of all variety , eventually becoming a designer .

I ca n’t explain the esthesis that washes over me when I ’m in the bearing of masterfully design Japanese garden or contemplating the line of a lovingly , patiently trained Shimpaku juniper . Perhaps it ’s my appreciation for how the human head can look at an actual tree or natural landscape , ascertain its essence and distill it into survive artistic creation .

I was sorting through my pic this week , looking for images for my upcoming al-Qur’an ( see my shameless , self - promoting plug at the end of this story ) and found these pic . I set up this collection of Nipponese garden . There are lessons to be learned and employ to any garden flair . I desire a few resonate for you and your railyard .

object lesson : If you ’re placing stones as natural ingredient in your garden , first observe how they appear in nature . Unless they ’ve been tumbled down a river or watercourse , they generally appear to be surface out of the background , not plunked down atop it . This tableau was photographed at the Portland Japanese Garden . find how the stone appear stable and at rest , inhume with much of their mass hidden below the grime . The tall I. F. Stone points heavenward , while a slanted Lucy Stone at the base carries the eye to the right .

Lesson : If the reason you garden is to bring a bit of nature to your K , put away the power peter , take time to look at the born world and bring that life to your own landscape . Move in close to this forest - style bonsai arrangement and you ’re in the midst of a hillock - top orchard . The scheme is a study in imperfection , with small irregularities – a branch nose out here and there , and as my bonsai master John Naka would say , “ room for the snort . ” Whoever crafted this cut of heaven(photographed at the National Arboretum ) made it look easy . What do you strive for when you pick up your pruning tools ?

body of water enlivens any garden , irrespective of how it ’s expressed . Water can be luxuriant and powerful , like this rugged waterfall . It make an emphatic perpendicular punctuation mark and fills the garden with sound and mist . The golden leafage of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is utterly placed to emphasize the focal point .

deterrent example : Not every yard has a spectacular aggrandizement alteration ( or severely work pumps ) to reconcile this scale of water feature , but there ’s always a manner to preface body of water as another lifelike element . When you do , do n’t let the water do all the work on its own – compound it with eye - catching plants that say , “ Psst , look over here ! ”

Photo / Illustration : Billy Goodnick

Even in a naturalistic background like the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island , Washington , there ’s a place for right angles . The grassy transition between the enframed Zen John Rock garden and the soft curves of the border is hopscotched with uniform orthogonal slabs . Like visible Morse code , they transport a content to search toward the distant gate . They ’re arranged in families of twos and threes , with an episodic loner . object lesson : Do n’t fear straight lines and geometric shapes , even in a natural garden schema . The contrast of manmade elements and constitutive manakin can playact nicely together . A close look at the Bloedel logic gate reveals a sequence of ground plane treatments that keep it interesting : instinctive cobbles , wood , our old booster the rectangular slab – some lay along the axis , some on the sloped – and a crisp border of black Mondo Mary Jane ( Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘ Nigrescens ’ ) . The supporting celestial pole focus care toward the forest beyond , mimicked by the take back wings of the remote fence . Lesson : To reinforce transition between garden “ elbow room ” , establish gateways and boundaries that define the borders . And because these portals suffer prominently in the landscape , unsparing supererogatory attention on their detailing .

Speaking of detail , here ’s the zoomed in view of the walk and border . Who needs tempting tulip or buoyant pansies ? A insidious interplay of black and gray unite the composing . At the same time , the visual textures of three clearly different material leave contrast . The pebble leak out into the space between the slab , acting as a bridge . And by in full commit to just one works eccentric , there ’s clarity of function in the design .

Lesson : Less is more ( more or less ) . Just as a good public utterer knows when to crank up the vitality and when a whisper will make her audience to lean in , so too can a garden overlook our attention with a minimum of effort .

So what have we pick up ? Next time you ’re poring over the page of Fine Gardening clip , or perusing dreamy pictures at this site , consider hesitate long enough to dissect what ’s going on . Even if it ’s a garden style that does n’t fit your personal vision , there are always example to be find out .

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Billy is the generator ofYards : Turn Any Outdoor Space Into the Garden of Your Dreams , which is filled with insights like this article , his way of sharing three decennary of design exploration with you , in hopes you’re able to apply a few of them to your own garden . you may get Yards atAmazon.com , BarnesandNoble.com , IndieBound.com , orPowells.com .

Billy also frequently lectures and gives demonstrations . you’re able to feel out more about his upcoming speaking appearing atbillygoodnick.com .

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Photo/Illustration: Billy Goodnick

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