Need advice on placement of lantern

[MrNorth]

Hi!

it has been a while since I visited this forum, Sweden has been plagued with the worst winter for 30 years. But now its finally starting to get warm.

I made a post about my newly aquired yukimigata lantern on the gardenwebs forum... but it seems to lack somewhat in activity, so I figured, why not post it here too!!

Today I made a bargain. I knew before that I wanted one lantern in my garden. It is not very big so I felt that one was proper. And since I have a pond and I like the yuki mi gata lantern, I decided to purchase it. And today I finally made the deal, at a price of 950 SEK (about 126 USD). It is made in china and the material is granite.
Anyway, please look at the pictures below, this setup took me about 10 minutes, I just wanted to get it placed "in" the pond... and then study the site and perhaps find a more suitable place.

[img]https://images4.pictiger.com/images/1d/5f6ead8b52fb62344bbe394dca954c1d.jpg[/img]

[img]https://images4.pictiger.com/images/24/8e5a93c67e311ccdca589667fc895b24.jpg[/img]

What do you think? I think this lantern is a very powerful item to place, it has lots of character, and I feel it is somewhat out of balance. Perhaps a shrub or something close to it would help. I think that something is definetly missing, perhaps the position is incorrect or the pantern need to be balance by perhaps a shrub behind it? What do you think?

I'm not sure whats the problem with the pics, sometimes they are replaced with a logo, but the "real" pic can be found at the source of the link.

kind regards![/img]

[Herb2]

I wonder if you put you finger on the problem when you said that the lantern was a very powerful item to place?

To me it seems to rather overpower the pond. It makes me feel that perhaps you need either a much bigger pond or a much smaller lantern.

Does anybody else have the same feeling about it?

Herb

[MrNorth]

Hi Herb!

Well right now I think it looks a bit out of place, but I figured it should be possible to balance it out, by placing a big shrub next to it (or behind)

Perhaps the latern shouldnt be placed on rocks that give it more vertical power, but rather next to the pond on the ground?

The lantern was so cheap I couldnt resist it, although I knew it would be troublesome (but no way impossible) to place at the pond...


kind regards
henrik

[Herb2]

Hi, Henrik,

I like your idea of using a shrub/shrubs to balance it. Here's a picture with several added. I didn't choose them for their species - only for their general size & colour. I'm not sure whether I've got the lantern to look the right size, but I think I've put it more or less in the place that Scott thought suitable?

How's this look?

Herb
[url]
https://www.pbase.com/embe/image/58734829/original[/url]

[MrNorth]

Hi Herb!

I'm not sure what you mean by

more or less in the place that Scott thought suitable?

But nevermind. I like the plan, the peninsula will be very difficult to make since the pond is very deep in that place... perhaps I can place boulders there just like I did in the original placement.. but it is impossible to look good with cobblestones I guess you feel the lantern should be moved to the left? My thought was that it doesnt look so good placed in the "center" of the pond...


Ahh on the pic you wrecked all my small plants!!! shame on you, hahaha. I'm just kidding... it sure looks better with bigger shrubs, but to buy shrubs like the ones you placed on the pic will cost twice as much as the lantern itself. I have speciments of azalea and pieris at the pond, sadly they are slow growers. They will probably take 10 years to grow to the size you placed.

This position get sun for most part of the day... making it not an ideal place for most "japanese style" plants that like shade.... perhaps you can give me any tips on any shrubs that will suit this location...

* like lots of sun

* grow really fast

* look somewhat good...

There is lots of character and "energy" in the lantern so I guess the plants don't have to have the same energy like a pine or a japanese maple...

Oh by the way on another matter, do you have any good pics of the itabei or planked wall? If you look in the back of the first pic there is no real background that will give the scene a rear focal point, just a slope and then the forrest starts... From my somewhat limited understanding of japanese garden design, it is very important with a rear focal point as well so the eye doesnt stray away....

I'm glad there is some activity going on... and that there are some masters around, not just newbies like me asking strange questions

kind regards
henrik

[Herb2]

Henrik,

On your question about the lantern's position, I was thinking of your earlier thread headed "(Yukimi-gata problem...sorta") & the comment on 6 May 2005 when The Helpful Gardener wrote -

"Actually it would be placed on a stone quite near or jutting into the water, so I'm changing my postion and leaning towards the second spot..."

I've probably jutted it further out into the water than he had in mind.

Sorry I don't have any advice on exactly what species of shrubs would suit - all I know about Sweden's climate is that it's a fair bit colder than ours & with longer winters. If you take a look at some of the more established gardens in your neighborhood, you'll probably see varieties of shrub similar to what would suit your garden.

I feel rather diffident about the few fence/wall pictures that I've taken - to me, they seldom look right when I put them in pictures. But here's one based on a picture that I took about a week ago of a fence in our neigborhood. Some people might feel it isn't 'Japanese' enough but to my eyes it looks weathered enough to be compatible.

[url]https://www.pbase.com/embe/image/58757875/original[/url]

regards,

Herb

[MrNorth]

Hi!

Omg, I completly forgotten about that old post, sorry!!!

The pic you designed with the fence looks very good, however in my garden I can only have the fence on the rear side because on both left and right side there are hedges... and I feel they will provide adequate enclosure when fully grown.

About shrubs.. I will go for a look... but all I will find are probably slow growing evergreens...

I will definetly add a pinus mugo behind the lantern... I have had luck with those species and I think that pines in general give the garden a more calmer japanese inspired atmosphere, in comparison to all the colorful western garden plants....

kind regards
Henrik

[MrNorth]

today I was driving past a lake... and I noticed a shoreline where the rocks in different size and shapes are in disorder... and all of a sudden it hits me.. I need to create that disorder too around too. If you look at the pond pics, it is obvious a human have placed those rocks there... (namely me)

I checked some japanese garden books when I got home... and the shore lines looked almost identical to the one at the lake..

Ahh I hate working with stones... but I guess I cant cheat on this one... if the stones around the lantern look natural then I think the eye will have no problem accepting the lantern itself..

herb, perhaps you could try to recreate my "vision" with your photoshop magic? please note that I cant bring any big boulders to my site... I would really appreciate your art....

I think I managed to find another good plant to keep around the pond... "Salix sachalinensis"... u reckon it will look good there?
kind regards
Henrik

[Herb2]

Henrik,

The sort of rock edging that I'd like for a pond would have a variety of rocks arranged on the same general principles as the the Journal of Japanese Gardening recommends - they show examples of what they mean in sketches from time to time.

They advise against what they call the 'necklace' effect & I notice that on the whole they advise against overly rounded rocks. One example of the style of arrangement that they recommend is in issue # 31 of the Journal (Jan/Feb 2003).

To give you the general idea, I've arranged, in the attached picture, some similarly shaped & sized rocks in similar positions. I think it will convey the general idea better than trying to adjust your photo.

Herb

[url]https://www.pbase.com/embe/image/58995704[/url]

[MrNorth]

Thank you Herb! That is exactly what I had in mind. Darned I wish I could read that magazene JOJG. Is there anywhere on the internet where I can order individual copies of the magazine? I'm running out of books to read

I'm constantly rearranging the area around my pond... I will try and show you with a pic from a different view!! Stay tuned!

/henrik