vertical, arching, short vertical, flat and reclining
SAND AND GRAVEL PATTERNS
In creating sand patterns in dry landscape gardens, the size of the grain is important. If the grain is too small, it is easily disturbed by wind and rain; if the grain is too large, it is difficult to rake. Color is also important. White sand carries connotations of purity and can be dazzling in the sunlight, whereas darker colors, such as gray or brown to bluish black, are said to convey feelings of tranquility. The best white sand comes from the Shirakawa area of Kyoto, where it has been used in gardening for centuries. The Tokyo area produces some of the best colored sands.
Sand is ideal for gardens that are meant only to be viewed but it is not suitable for courtyards in which activities take place, such as those of Buddhist temples or Shinden style mansions. Such courtyards employ larger grained gravel or small pebbles that are more likely to stay in place under the trampling of feet. Some courtyards, such as those at Ise Jingū, which are not normally walked upon, are covered with rounded, water-worn pebbles and small rocks, reminiscent of a river beach.
straight
paving stone
flower (or some other plant)
woven
whirlpool eddy in foreground; straight in back (note how the “straight” lines curve around the rocks)
piled sand
ocean waves
checkerboard (the main difference between the checkerboard and paving stone designs is in the size of the squares)
curves
WALLS, FENCES AND PATHS
Walls and fences are used to enclose a garden, thereby ensuring privacy and keeping out unwanted intruders. They also are frames that allow a garden to be viewed as a work of art, somewhat detached from its surroundings. The importance of paths is that they guide visitors through a garden in such a way that the composition unfolds as intended by the designer.
Walls and Fences
In addition to framing what is on the inside, walls and fences can be used, in conjunction with trees, shrubs and hedges, to frame distant scenes and incorporate them into the garden—an example of “borrowed scenery.” Fences are also used within a garden to screen a view or to encourage visitors to look or move in a particular direction. The choice of whether to use a wall or fence when creating a boundary depends largely on the type of buildings and gardens enclosed as well as on the intended effect. A substantial wall is well suited to the large buildings and grounds of a Buddhist temple whereas a twig fence is more appropriate for Sukiya style mansions and gardens. Walls and fences must, of course, have appropriate gates. For example, a twig fence may be interrupted by a small grass-covered pole gate, whereas a garden surrounded by a substantial clay wall with a tile roof requires a more impressive entrance.
Detail of a wall constructed of ceramic tiles and clay resting on a stone foundation.
A lattice type bamboo fence at Kōetsuji Temple, Kyoto.
Materials and Construction Methods
Walls are generally distinguished by their construction methods. Temples and palaces are enclosed by very substantial walls constructed of a mixture of clay and straw (shikkui) covered with a coat of plaster that is painted white or a pastel color such as tan or beige. Sometimes tiles are embedded in the clay. Clay walls are supported by a timber framework and covered with a tile roof. Sometimes the wall is erected on a stone base. A common type of enclosure for early Shinden style gardens and mansions in the Nara and Heian periods was a substantial wooden wall with a wooden roof. Because such walls were easily damaged by wind and rain, they were mostly abandoned after the Heian Period though board fences continued to be used.
Fencing materials and construction methods vary widely. In addition to the use of boards, some of the most common materials are bundled twigs, bamboo, reeds and bark. Flexible materials such as reeds and split bamboo can be fastened by cords and vines to a sturdy frame constructed of horizontal poles attached to vertical members sunk in the ground. They also can be fastened to each other and hung from a horizontal top pole, or in the case of strips of bark, woven together and attached to the frame. More sturdy materials such as bamboo poles can be widely spaced and interlaced on the diagonal, leaving diamond-shaped spaces between the poles. Twig fences in which the tops are not trimmed are known as “nightingale fences.” These are only a few of the many fence alternatives open to the garden designer.
WING FENCES
Screen or wing fences are short ornamental fences, slightly narrower than tall, that are attached to buildings in order to control the view of the garden from the veranda or to conceal some object in the garden. They are usually made of brushwood (shiba) and split bamboo. Considerable effort is expended to turn wing fences into works of art. The drawings below are based largely upon the drawings of Josiah Condor, an English architect who lived in Japan in the Meiji Period.
double screen type
clotheshorse type
leaning plum tree type
unjō type
low Korean type
two-stage torch type
round window lattice type
