JAPANESE GARDEN
The Helpful Gardener is written by Scott Reil of Scott Reil Garden Design.
He has taught an Advanced Master Gardeners course on Japanese Garden Design
and is happy to share his knowledge of Japanese
Gardening.
Advanced Japanese Garden Design Tips
Expanding your knowledge
While gardening has evolved in many different ways around the planet,
and each style has its own unique charms, something about Asian garden
style has captured world-wide attention. Perhaps it is the simple lines
and minimal look. Perhaps it is the utilization of the natural landscape
as the ideal model, intrinsically connecting the viewer to the environment.
Perhaps it’s the whimsy of lanterns, bridges and tea houses that
captures the imagination. All I know is that I was instantly hooked, and
that I needed to know more. And whenever that happens, I start reading,
and when I start reading garden books, I usually buy them. There is an
entire shelf of my garden bookcase dedicated to Asian garden style and
I’ll give you a quick tour to help you choose books on the subject
for your own library. read
more
JAPANESE GARDEN DESIGN
A history of gardening with a light touch
The garden, like any art form, has evolved over most of the world. As
with other art forms, the garden has developed in many different directions.
In England, where much of the American gardening heritage hails from,
clipped lawns and formal rose gardens rule the day. Across the channel,
France has given us the parterre and the allee, sure marks of man’s
hand on the land. Even the Italian villa lays out its paths and beds in
formal, straight lines. read
more
JAPANESE GARDEN DESIGN PRINCIPLES
On the path toward a successful garden
There are certain intrinsic principles that one needs to grasp to successfully
capture the spirit of the Japanese garden. Most importantly, nature is
the ideal that you must strive for. You can idealize it, even symbolize
it, but you must never create something that nature itself cannot. read
more
STONE IN THE JAPANESE ROCK GARDEN
Let the garden be your guide
There is a certain calmness that comes to you as you view a well laid-out
Japanese garden. While it is hard to define any one particular element
as the source of this peaceful influence, I would suggest that it is the
solid, anchored look that the stone features bring to the garden that
do the most to impart that feeling of peace. This should come as no surprise
as the Japanese gardener utilizes rock as the “bones” of the
garden, with plants and ornaments as trimmings.
read
more
ZEN AND IT'S INFLUENCE ON THE JAPANESE GARDEN
There have been other philosophies that have found their way into the
garden. Persia had its paradise gardens. Descartes theories of a mathematical
ordering of the universe were clearly defined by Versailles’s geometric
layout. But rarely has any one philosophy had such a clear and defined
impact on a garden style as the indelible mark left by Zen on the Japanese
garden. While many of the stylings now thought of as Zen had their roots
in earlier forms, it was the discipline of Zen thought that helped give
them the ageless quality we associate with the Japanese garden. read
more
BONSAI TREE CARE
Watering - The most important part of Bonsai care
This is the crux of the art of bonsai. Most trees that die (I prefer
the phrase “permanent dormancy”) are lost to dehydration,
either from lack of watering or from being kept in a low humidity environment
(indoors) too long. read
more
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