"Cereus-validus" wrote in message
m...
A true Japanese garden is one tended to by a Japanese gardener!!!!

Anything else is just an occidental looking for a place to happen.

Ha ha... If that were true, then vegetable gardens would be tended to by a
vegetable gardener.

"Cereus-validus" wrote in message
m...
A true Japanese garden is one tended to by a Japanese gardener!!!!

Anything else is just an occidental looking for a place to happen.

Ha ha... If that were true, then vegetable gardens would be tended to by a
vegetable gardener.

"Cereus-validus" wrote in message
m...
A true Japanese garden is one tended to by a Japanese gardener!!!!

Anything else is just an occidental looking for a place to happen.

Ha ha... If that were true, then vegetable gardens would be tended to by a
vegetable gardener.

(Michael Palmer) wrote in message . com...
I've been lurking for a bit now. This is a very informative
newsgroup. I have a question that I hope can be answered. What is it
that makes a "Japanese Garden" a true Japanese garden? There seems to
be many interpretations out there. Any sites to recommend me to with
pics? Thanks everyone.
Michael

If you take a Japanese gardener for a drive in the northeast US he
will be awestruck by the rock outcrops that occur where highway cuts
have been made.
Once these have been left alone for a while and get a few layers of
ferns and laurel they look just right. Trying to create one in a
garden is another matter.

We won't even go and suggest what type of gardener grows fruit or nuts!!!


Brigitte J. wrote in message
...

"Cereus-validus" wrote in message
m...
A true Japanese garden is one tended to by a Japanese gardener!!!!

Anything else is just an occidental looking for a place to happen.

Ha ha... If that were true, then vegetable gardens would be tended to by
a
vegetable gardener.

If you take a Japanese gardener for a drive in the northeast US
he
will be awestruck by the rock outcrops that occur where highway
cuts
have been made.

I dunno. There are plenty of rock outcrops in Japan.

Once these have been left alone for a while and get a few
layers of
ferns and laurel they look just right. Trying to create one in
a
garden is another matter.

I'm not sure that a road cut can EVER look "just right." But
it's not really that tough to create a natural rock wall,
cliffside, or rocky glen in a garden. Just remember,
(trite-but-true phrases coming up), less is more. And time heals
all wounds.

It IS almost impossible to get the look of an aged cliff wall in
one sitting, but give it a few years, leave fallen leaves where
they fall to decay, provide _dampness_, and it will come. Native
plants (especially those native to rocks and that KIND of rocks)
also help.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL -

The message
from "Cereus-validus" contains these words:

We won't even go and suggest what type of gardener grows fruit or nuts!!!

Or prickly plants.

Janet

radically different I would say. Japanese gardens are for really small tight spaces,
are very tightly landscaped and groomed constantly. I find Chinese landscaping to be
much more "wild", loose, free style than Japanese. Ingrid

"j bloggs" wrote:
.. (There are Fundamental differences between Chinese and
Japanese garden art,
Chinese and Japanese gardens create a landscape that
stimulates the imagination rather than the understanding. One sees over and
over the juxtaposition of Yang and Yin, the masculine and feminine, hard and
soft; for example rock and water, bamboo and chrysanthemum, straight and
curved lines.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

wrote in message
...
Japanese gardens are for really small tight spaces,
are very tightly landscaped and groomed constantly. I find
Chinese landscaping to be
much more "wild", loose, free style than Japanese. Ingrid



That's only partly true. There are a number of quite large (25-
60-Acre or larger) Japanese gardens in Tokyo alone, dating back
to the Tokugawa Era, and before. Other large gardens can be
found in Nara and Kyoto, among other cities.

A feature of these, however, is that they are divided into many,
much-smaller parts and that you usually cannot see one part from
another -- unlike the famous gardens of Europe, where vistas of
flowers and regimented pathways, mazes, etc. are favored.

They ARE groomed _almost_ constantly, but Japan, too suffers from
a labor shortage and there are few Japanese today who seem to be
willing to take on the constant bent-over labor of maintaining
their large public gardens. The last time I was there, it
actually was quite common to see weeds poking up through the
clipped azalea borders, and the pathways were nowhere near as
pristine as they used to be. The gardeners I DID see were all
quite elderly. Mostly women.

Exception: The gardens around the Imperial Palace. Every leaf
is in its place. Or else!

Of course, many other gardens are small and intimate. These are
the gardens of private residences, or rooftop gardens of large
corporations (or department stores). Tea house gardens are
somewhat larger -- but still measured in square feet, rather than
acres.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

Japanese gardens in Japan look like what God could do if he had a good editor.
zemedelec

Ha ha... If that were true, then vegetable gardens would be tended to by a
vegetable gardener.

BRBR

I picture a longish, languid eggplant with short arms and legs and a long rake.
It spends at least 50% of the time in the garden hammock.
zemedelec

Not to mention the larger gardens of nunneries and other religious sites...
I think too often westerners (if I may paint with broad sweeps and
generalizations) perceive the quintessential Japanese garden as either a
tiny tsuboniwa (courtyard garden, a small to medium sized squarish open
space that is an architectural element of 99% of all traditional Japanese
homes) or an austere dry raked bed of gravel with a few boulders here or
there.

Dave

"Jim Lewis" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
Japanese gardens are for really small tight spaces,
are very tightly landscaped and groomed constantly. I find
Chinese landscaping to be
much more "wild", loose, free style than Japanese. Ingrid



That's only partly true. There are a number of quite large (25-
60-Acre or larger) Japanese gardens in Tokyo alone, dating back
to the Tokugawa Era, and before. Other large gardens can be
found in Nara and Kyoto, among other cities.

A feature of these, however, is that they are divided into many,
much-smaller parts and that you usually cannot see one part from
another -- unlike the famous gardens of Europe, where vistas of
flowers and regimented pathways, mazes, etc. are favored.

They ARE groomed _almost_ constantly, but Japan, too suffers from
a labor shortage and there are few Japanese today who seem to be
willing to take on the constant bent-over labor of maintaining
their large public gardens. The last time I was there, it
actually was quite common to see weeds poking up through the
clipped azalea borders, and the pathways were nowhere near as
pristine as they used to be. The gardeners I DID see were all
quite elderly. Mostly women.

Exception: The gardens around the Imperial Palace. Every leaf
is in its place. Or else!

Of course, many other gardens are small and intimate. These are
the gardens of private residences, or rooftop gardens of large
corporations (or department stores). Tea house gardens are
somewhat larger -- but still measured in square feet, rather than
acres.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

Not to mention the larger gardens of nunneries and other religious sites...
I think too often westerners (if I may paint with broad sweeps and
generalizations) perceive the quintessential Japanese garden as either a
tiny tsuboniwa (courtyard garden, a small to medium sized squarish open
space that is an architectural element of 99% of all traditional Japanese
homes) or an austere dry raked bed of gravel with a few boulders here or
there.

Dave

"Jim Lewis" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
Japanese gardens are for really small tight spaces,
are very tightly landscaped and groomed constantly. I find
Chinese landscaping to be
much more "wild", loose, free style than Japanese. Ingrid



That's only partly true. There are a number of quite large (25-
60-Acre or larger) Japanese gardens in Tokyo alone, dating back
to the Tokugawa Era, and before. Other large gardens can be
found in Nara and Kyoto, among other cities.

A feature of these, however, is that they are divided into many,
much-smaller parts and that you usually cannot see one part from
another -- unlike the famous gardens of Europe, where vistas of
flowers and regimented pathways, mazes, etc. are favored.

They ARE groomed _almost_ constantly, but Japan, too suffers from
a labor shortage and there are few Japanese today who seem to be
willing to take on the constant bent-over labor of maintaining
their large public gardens. The last time I was there, it
actually was quite common to see weeds poking up through the
clipped azalea borders, and the pathways were nowhere near as
pristine as they used to be. The gardeners I DID see were all
quite elderly. Mostly women.

Exception: The gardens around the Imperial Palace. Every leaf
is in its place. Or else!

Of course, many other gardens are small and intimate. These are
the gardens of private residences, or rooftop gardens of large
corporations (or department stores). Tea house gardens are
somewhat larger -- but still measured in square feet, rather than
acres.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

It IS almost impossible to get the look of an aged cliff wall in
one sitting, but give it a few years, leave fallen leaves where
they fall to decay, provide _dampness_, and it will come. Native
plants (especially those native to rocks and that KIND of rocks)
also help.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL -

Or give it a few hundred years.

"Beecrofter" wrote in message
om...

It IS almost impossible to get the look of an aged cliff wall
in
one sitting, but give it a few years, leave fallen leaves
where
they fall to decay, provide _dampness_, and it will come.
Native
plants (especially those native to rocks and that KIND of
rocks)
also help.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL -

Or give it a few hundred years.

Nah. You'll be surprised what as little as 3-4 years will do.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.