Japanese Gardening – Secrets of Zen

Japanese Gardens are a mystical and unique combination of art form, spirituality and nature. Much care, creativity, and patience goes into designing and growing Japanese garden, whether a miniature Bonsai tree, or a complete outdoor retreat. Japanese Zen gardens are known for creating tranquility and harmony. Japanese gardens are unique in part due to their being influenced by different emperors in Japanese history, and also Shinto, Buddhist and Taoist philosophies.

Historic Origins

Originally, Japanese Gardens represented a utopian land for the Japanese. Philosophies influencing creation of Japanese Gardens bring a sense of spirituality to the gardens. In the past, Japanese gardens were cut off from the masses, since the ruling elite and the religious classes used it as a place of peace and meditation. A Japanese emperor specifically built a garden in Kyoto so that he could spend his years in peace there. The Garden of the Silver Pavilion was another famous landmark used by a renowned soldier as a shelter from violence.

Today’s Japanese gardens, also called Zen gardens and Buddhist gardens, all show the influence of Zen Buddhism and Chinese mythology that were imported to Japan over the centuries. The Buddhist influence makes the garden a paradise for peace and solitude, offering the opportunity to ponder and reflect or meditate.

Fundamental Elements

The presence of a few elements is mandatory for a Japanese garden, and water is the most important amongst them. Water, in Japanese culture, symbolizes purity. Since Japan is made up of a group of islands, the Japanese had to cross water most of the time to go from one place to another. This has led to the presence of water in most Japanese gardens.

In the absence of real water, you can use a symbolic representation, which is usually gray gravel or sand. The sand in the garden is often raked in patterns to represent the waves of the ocean. The other essential elements in a Japanese garden are stones, garden plants, waterfalls, trees such as Bonsai trees, and bridges. In their natural state, stones have an ancient, spiritual quality and also impart strength and endurance to a garden. They may also sometimes symbolize mountains and islands.

Garden plants are generally chosen to fit a human scale, often evoking familiar landscapes. Some gardens owners also construct water features like waterfalls, streams, or ponds. Other features that are generally considered include fences, walls and gates, paths, steps, and bridges, water basins, lanterns, the deer chaser and koi fish. There are five different styles of Japanese gardens, namely, Strolling Gardens, Natural Gardens, Sand and Stone Gardens, Tea Gardens and Flat Gardens.

Artistic Expression

There is a common misconception that Japanese gardens always follow certain ground rules with respect to content and arrangement. Since the Japanese are highly individualistic, the look of the Japanese garden mostly depends on the person who plants and tends the garden. Though some rules are followed, the rest depends on how the gardener wants to express his or her creativity through the garden. Japanese gardens have philosophical and religious elements.

Every part of a Japanese garden has a reason for being there. Every stone, plant and garden accessory is an expression of the beliefs of the person who planted it. They are not meant to function as a small version of a farm. A Japanese garden is more like an expression of art. It is like a book or a painting. Books and paintings are expressions of person’s mind. This holds true for Japanese gardens.

Modern Differences

Japanese gardens are different from Western gardens in terms of their religious and philosophical elements. Japanese gardens are an expression of art, and a symbolic representation of the gardeners view of the universe. On the other hand, westerners do not see gardens as expressions of religious or philosophical beliefs since most Western gardens are essentially smaller versions of a farm. Traditional Japanese gardens emphasize natural, abstract beauty and minimize signage on plants. There are nearly 60 public Japanese gardens in the United States. If your desire is to create a garden that will look different from popular ones, be innovative, have an interesting ambiance around your house and incorporate spiritual solace in your life – choose a Japanese Garden.

Selection of plants

The Japanese gardens try to reflect the permanence of nature. That is why it is the evergreen trees that become the dominating feature of Japanese gardens. The plants in the Japanese gardens represent the seasonal cycles. Because of this selection, the Japanese gardens are not discarded during the winters. The essence of the four seasons can nowhere be better felt than in the changing appearance of Japanese garden through the year.

Bringing the balance

In an ode to nature, the Japanese gardens strive to represent the nature in a minuscule, but in its closest form. As for example, in a Japanese garden, you can not accommodate a pond that is a perfect square in shape. Because nature never produced s such a geometrical wonders. Similarly, in your pursuit of imitating nature, you have also to incorporate the spirit of balance. As for example to create a mountain in your small garden, you can make use of the small rocks, but not the huge ones.

In short, Japanese gardens are the reflection of natural balance between change and constancy. A little introduction to Zen philosophy can prepare you for the better perception about the Japanese style of gardening.