A Japanese Garden

~ By Jus Kuntree ~

I have a lot of area to work with, and am always trying to figure out what to do with it. Recently when visiting with my friend Vicki, it hit me, one thing I want to do is create a small Japanese garden.

I couldn't talk her out of the lovely dragon that resides in her garden, so will just have to try to get my own!

Now I'm wondering, just what all would I want to put in a Japanese garden in the way of both plants, and decorations? So, off to do a little sleuthing, and explore the world of the wondrous gardens of Japan.

One of the first sites I came across provided not only some very relaxing music, but several ideas. Visisting the first site listed below was a real treat in learning about the importance of the gardens in Japanese culture. And it was here that I began my wish list for a garden of my own, starting with a Japanese maple, and a stone lantern. And of course a dragon!

Every garden is different. In planning a garden, one should seek to achieve a harmonious balance between nature and man. And there are several basic types of Japanese gardens: tea gardens, Zen gardens, sand and stone gardens, flat gardens, natural gardens, and strolling gardens.

Well already I'm finding that there's much, much more to Japanese gardens than I ever could have thought. So first, I'd better decide what type of garden I want.

Something else I've learned is that there are certain things that are considered to be essential parts of a Japanese garden. Those being water, waterfalls, stone, bridges, and plants, including trees. Each and every thing that makes up the garden, is a symbol of something. For instance, evergreens which are often used, symbolize permanence, and water symbolizes the sea.

One thing to keep in mind when making your wish list of plants for your garden, is whether or not they will grow and do well in your gardening zone.

By now I've also decided that I'd like to plant some bamboo. Forutnate for me, my son happens to have an abundance of it, and was most willing to give me some starts. And also fortunate, is that I planted those starts right in the area that I've decided to try to develop for this project.

Azaleas are another choice, and Japanese iris, along with Yew. I have a Yew planted in another spot, and it is just kind of surviving, but not thriving, so hopefully future plantings of them will do better. And already growing in the area I want to work with, is a Mimosa that came up volunteer. I think it will work well with it's delicate and fernlike leaves.

Regardless of how one chooses to plan and plant a Japanese garden, the end result should be a place of beauty, peace, and harmony.

~ ~ ~

Below are but two of the many Japanese Garden Sites found on the Internet for you to explore. Just copy and paste into your browser.

Explore Japanese Gardens at: http://academic.bowdoin.edu/zen/

Explore the Japanese Garden at: http://www.explorejapan.com/jgardens.htm

         

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