There are a huge number of gardens in the world. But none of them can compare with Japanese. It can be created on a large area and a small summer cottage. What design elements will be needed, what plants a hedge is made of, and read about many other things in the article.
Japanese gardens
The Japanese express their attitude to nature through landscape art. Over the centuries, eras have changed each other. But the attitude to nature remained and remains unchanged. The Japanese have a special one. In any adversity, magnificent gardens for the Japanese people remain the place where a person is calm and comfortable.
Types of Japanese gardens are different. For centuries, the Japanese have been creating new styles, adding more modern elements to their design. Read about some of them below in the article.
Imperial Gardens
They were the very first in Japan. Their creation was greatly influenced by the art of China. A Japanese-style garden appeared in the country a long time ago, in the 6th-8th centuries. The imperial gardenspreserved. They were destroyed by internecine wars, fires and natural disasters.
Islands and lakes were obligatory components of the gardens of the distant past. They were built artificially and connected to the shore by a bridge. The garden was a favorite resting place for the emperor's family and court nobility. They made boat trips on the lake and on foot - along its shore. Such gardens began to be created by aristocrats.
Gardens of temples and monasteries
Differed in that there were no plants in them or there were very few. The use of the main ingredients - stones, sand and pebbles - was mandatory. The gardens of temples and monasteries gave rise to a completely new type, which came to be called symbolic or philosophical. You won't find them anywhere in the world. The rock garden in Japan is fraught with mystery, incomprehensible to Europeans.
The main principle that the masters adhered to when creating was the imitation of nature and a great desire to learn from it. The main purpose of the rock garden was the contemplation of what he saw. The territory was necessarily surrounded by a fence made of bamboo or other wood. Living plants served as a hedge.
The fenced area was a special world, where each component is responsible for a certain part of the overall plan of the composition, which symbolizes the Universe.
Building a Japanese rock garden
It was arranged on a small rectangular area measuring 30 x 10 meters. Its surface was covered with whitegravel. Fifteen stones were placed throughout its territory, united in groups of three.
Each group of stones was framed with green moss. The gravel was furrowed with a rake. The result was grooves that looked like ripples of water. The garden around the perimeter was surrounded by a low fence.
The importance of stones in the garden exposition
According to one version, the stones are mountain peaks. They pass through the clouds to ascend to the sky. According to others, these are islands in the ocean. Someone considers stones to be a tigress with cubs, who swims across the sea with water seething in it. Stones are associated with an endless number of living beings and fictional characters.
This Japanese-style garden has other mysteries. The most incredible thing is that, looking at the garden from any direction, a person sees only fourteen stones. One stone always remains invisible. Perhaps Soami, a monk from a monastery, wanted to show the immensity of the world. The invisible stone is commensurate with the obscurity of the world in which people live.
Another mystery is the special effect of stones on the human psyche. Looking at them, people focus, find peace, completely immerse themselves in themselves. In different seasons of the year, hours of the day, a person looks at the stones in different ways and each time he finds something new for himself, peculiar only to him. It is impossible to comprehend the riddles of the rock garden. They are mysterious and beautiful.
Landscape style
Japanese gardens are formed in 10-12 centuries. The heyday of the art of creating gardens and parks was achieved in the 14-16 centuries. main stylebecomes landscape. It was borrowed from China. Based on the traditions of the nation, the identity of the culture, the Japanese-style garden has been perfected. The elements for creating gardens have not changed for centuries. But there were new ideas for their use in accordance with all the features of a particular era.
This style continues to evolve. There are varieties of it. The landscape style is formed by nature itself: islands, mountains of unprecedented beauty, meandering rivers and unique vegetation.
Abstract style
The garden, created in this style, resembles a rock garden, where the viewer plays the leading role. Each person comprehends what he saw and arranges its elements the way he would like to see them. The garden in the Japanese style "Abstract" was created by our contemporary, a sculptor from Japan. The work required gravel, stones and a minimum of vegetation. As conceived by the author, his creation is called "Abstract Garden", a variation of which is the garden "Dry Landscape".
Based on the image of water with components that have nothing to do with it. Such gardens create two types:
- The first one is “With water”. The main elements are gravel and sand. They symbolize water. Small grooves are made around the stones with a rake parallel to each other, like waves that appear on the surface of water if a stone is thrown into it. Large longitudinal lines are associated with the serenity of the waves.
- The second option, as it were, tells that there was water, but it was swallowed up by dry air, and it left. Sotype of abstract landscape can be interesting to decorate your garden. Many elements are involved in its design. Japanese garden design is created using all the same basic components. They make waterfalls, rivers, streams. All this is accompanied by vegetation. An abstract landscape made of natural materials replaces water, which gives the garden an originality.
Tea ceremony
The form of the garden for this action is nothing new, except for the presence of a vessel for washing hands. Its purpose has changed. In Japan, tea drinking is a ceremony and a national tradition. At first it was held in monasteries, being part of a certain ritual. Then it became an entertainment for the courtiers and, finally, it began to be carried out in all social strata of society.
A special house is being built for it. It was possible to approach it bypassing the garden, which helps the participants of the ceremony to get positive emotions. The garden should correspond to the ideals of the ceremony: be simple, modest, discreetly charming. Participants in the action must unite spiritually.
Usually, a garden is set up in a small area. It has a path along which the invitees approach the house, a bench for waiting for an invitation to the ceremony, a vessel with water, a stone lantern.
The paths in the stone garden were uneven, so visitors had to watch their feet to avoid falling. There were even paths, people stopped on them and admired the beauty of the garden.
Characteristics of Japanese gardens
Currently, the Japanese garden style is a fashion trend in landscape design. Specialists have developed many unique projects that create unique backyard plots, including a Japanese-style mini-garden. Characteristic for them is the presence of flowering plants, waterfalls and lake systems, stone pavilions and paths. A characteristic feature of the Japanese garden is unity with nature, the creation of landscapes from natural ingredients.
Stones in the garden
They are the basis of the composition, considered in Japanese culture as a symbol of constancy and immutability. The use of basic stones: high and low vertical, curved, inclined and horizontal - is a must in the garden. Usually they are placed in groups, each with three stones. The composition uses an odd number, starting with three and ending with fifteen.
Japanese-style garden decoration is unacceptable using three types of stones:
- Deformed.
- Dead, which means that in the natural environment their location was one, and in the garden they were given a different position.
- Mismatched with other stones.
Japanese-style garden in the country is decorated using only one stone from the main group. If necessary, the composition can be supplemented with smaller stones that do not carry a large semantic load. They can be used for bridges, walkways and sculpting.
The stones of garden paths should protrude above the surface bya few centimeters. They are laid in straight lines or in groups. The paths symbolize the life path of a person. Here, each stone has its own meaning.
If a person, while walking, puts his feet on a wide stone located across the path, he should stop and look around. How many components, so many values. But a person does not have to remember everything by heart. To maintain the spirit of a truly Japanese garden, it is important to observe the basic principles - eternity and constancy. Stones look old if moss grows on them. If you do not want to wait until it grows, you can bring it from the forest and plant it in your garden in the right place. Moss should be regularly moistened so that it takes root faster.
Water in the garden
Natural water bodies can have different shapes and purposes. These include shallow ponds, cascading waterfalls, running streams. Water absorbs sounds and attracts all living things. If it is not possible to create a natural reservoir, you can replace it with an artificial one using smooth pebbles and pebbles. If everything is done skillfully, it will give the impression that the water has recently evaporated, but it will rain, and it will return again. Plants that naturally grow near water bodies will help to experience such sensations.
Water in the gardens of Japan carries a huge semantic load: it is a symbol of the transience of time. Often in the design of Japanese gardens, bridges are used that cross bodies of water. They symbolize travel.
Garden plants
They are given a secondary role, although they are an integral part of it and helpa person to notice seasonal changes. Plants decorate the relief and emphasize the color contrast. Their selection is done carefully, since many Japanese plants do not grow in our climate and soil. The garden should be designed in such a way that one can always look at it with pleasure and admiration.
In spring and summer, flowering plants of one group should replace another. But there are those whose presence is mandatory in the garden. These are dwarf spruce, juniper, Karelian birch, rhododendron. Giant trees (oaks, firs, pines, elms) are a great addition to the garden. Ephedra are the center of the composition, they personify longevity, courage and strength. There are always a lot of cherries, apples, apricots and plums in the garden, the flowering of which is incredibly beautiful.
How shrubs are used as exhibit components for a Japanese garden. From different varieties of barberry, you can get a fast-growing perennial hedge. A beautifully blooming hawthorn will become a spring decoration of the garden, and its fruits will become a summer one.
Herbaceous plants with large leaves are planted near fences. Of these, create a fast-growing perennial hedge. These plants include ferns, chrysanthemums, Rogers, hostas.
Elements and decor
When creating a Japanese garden with your own hands, you can use external elements, although this is not a prerequisite. The mountain, which is located at a sufficiently large distance from the garden, looks good. It needs to be framed with garden plants and design elements. Look great on displaygarden decor items, which include:
- Stone lanterns. They are placed on stones with a flat surface next to water bodies.
- Stone or bronze statues.
- Rain chains to keep water out when it rains.
- Bells, gongs.
- Bamboo sticks.
- Pavilions and benches.
- Bridges.
The main principles in choosing and using these elements should be: symbolism, asymmetry, naturalness, flow and balance.
