a garden is adjacent to a main building, verandas and views of the garden from the inside should be considered as well. Verandas are transitional devices between a building and the garden that make the movement of eye and body from indoors to outdoors less abrupt. In contemplation gardens, a veranda is a place to sit and view the garden. It completes the frame provided by walls on the other three sides of the garden. Windows and openings created by sliding doors are frequently used as framing devices through which a garden can be viewed from the inside. The shape of the frame can be used to complement the outdoor scene and amplify the feeling that one is viewing a work of art.
PAVILIONS
Pavilions are structures where one can rest, view the moon or wait for a tea ceremony to begin. Located on hills, islands or on the edges of a pond, they can range from the simplest of shapes, such as an “umbrella roof” on a pole, to elaborate edifices with raised floors and tatami mats.
umbrella type
summer house type
hexagonal type
enclosed type
machiai (covered arbor where one waits for a tea ceremony to begin)
matted type
FLORA AND FAUNA
The first gardens in Japan were graveled plots symbolizing sacred space. In the Heian Period, new traditions from China introduced gardens in which ponds and stone compositions provided the basic structure. Trees, bushes and flowers were also introduced but because plants, compared to rocks, are impermanent, they were regarded as decorative elements. In later periods, trees and shrubs came to be regarded as structural elements, as they are today.
A vertical triangle composed of various kinds of vegetation, with a pine tree at the apex, from the 1735 edition of the gardening manual Tsukiyama Teizōden (Building Mountains and Making Gardens).
Types of Vegetation
Between the Heian and Edo periods, various practices were adopted regarding plant usage. For example, in “wet” landscape gardens, trees and grasses were employed to create shorelines, rolling hills and meadows, whereas in “dry” landscape gardens, vegetation was kept to a minimum so as not to dwarf the mountains and streams represented by rocks and gravel. The most popular plants have always been those indigenous to the area.
Of the many plants available for use, trees are the most important. A tree usually provides the focal point of a composition, with other plants used as accents. Four types of trees are employed in Japanese gardens: broad leaf evergreens, deciduous trees, needle leaf trees and bamboo. Most common broad leaf evergreens include camellia, azalea, Japanese fatsia (yatsude), pasania and oak. Deciduous trees include plum, cherry, maple, willow, gingko and zelkova. Commonly used needle leaf trees include pine, Japanese cypress (hinoki), Japanese cedar or cryptomeria (sugi) and fir. Around fifteen species of bamboo, including bamboo grass, are found in Japan. Pines are particularly important because they are relatively easy to train into interesting shapes. Bamboo is used with caution as it spreads quickly and can rapidly take over a garden.
Like rocks, trees are usually arranged in triangular or pyramidal compositions to create an asymmetrical balance of forces. Different species are normally planted together to provide contrast in form and color. For example, a twisted pine goes well with a weeping willow. Care is taken to plant trees in areas similar to where they would grow in nature. Thus, trees that normally grow on mountain slopes are not planted in flatlands.
Of the many types of bamboo that grow in Japan, some are not suitable as they become too large. The three species shown here are favored because of their relatively small size and attractive stem colors. From left to right:
Phyllostachys aurea Golden Bamboo (Hoteichiku)
Phyllostachys bambusoides “Castillon” Variegated Running Bamboo (Kinmeichiku)
Phyllostachys nigra Black Bamboo (Kurochiku)
Clipped shrubs became common in Momoyama Period karesansui gardens, particularly in conjunction with gravel. Shrubs such as junipers and azaleas are usually trimmed into rounded shapes and are sometimes grouped in clusters to suggest hills. More infrequently they are used to create geometric shapes or artifacts such as boats. Unless this is done with great skill, the result can look artificial. Trees and shrubs are often planted near or overhanging stone objects such as lanterns, wells and basins. This provides an interesting contrast and helps blend human artifacts into the scenery.
Moss is particularly suited to Japan’s humid temperate climate. Over a hundred varieties of moss can be found in Saihōji (Kyoto’s Moss Temple) alone. The use of grass to create lawns began in the early Edo Period and was reinforced in the Meiji Period after the invasion of Western culture. Flowers are generally found in flatland gardens, especially along streams or ponds.
Moss and stone checkerboard pattern in the North Garden of Tōkufuji Temple’s Hōjō Garden, Kyoto, designed by Shigemori Mirei.
Uses of Vegetation
Trees and shrubs contribute to the basic compositional structure of a garden but like other plants they have a variety of uses. For example, trees and shrubs provide shade, disrupt long-range views, screen undesirable elements outside the garden, frame “borrowed scenery” and provide borders to areas selected for emphasis. Vegetation is also used to provide a transition between different scenes in a stroll garden, thereby unifying the composition. Non-flowering trees and shrubs can provide a relatively homogeneous backdrop for compositions such as rock arrangements. Of particular interest is the use of vegetation to aid in the creation of perspective. For example, a feeling of distance can be achieved by placing plants with bright colors or large leaves in the foreground and darkcolored plants with small leaves in the background. Vertical distance can be manipulated in the same manner. For example, a hill can be made to appear higher by planting large trees at the base and smaller trees at the top.
Symbolism and Color
Some species of plants have specific meanings. For example, the lotus, most commonly found in Paradise gardens, though rooted in the mud, grows to the surface of a pond to produce a beautiful flower, giving rise to the hope that humans can rise above the impurities of life to attain enlightenment. This is one of the reasons that Buddha is often depicted as sitting on a lotus blossom.
To take another example, pines are a symbol of endurance. Their shape and color, however, can also be important. A twisted pine suggests a windswept coast whereas a
