A Simple and Easy 5 Step Process To Create Magnificent Japanese Gardens
Gardens in the traditional Japanese style are being built every where in the western culture today. You can find them in suburban neighborhoods, city parks and on roof tops of high rise apartment buildings in the bigger cities. These gardens are beautiful and tranquil and give the visitor a sense of inner peace, that is one of the reasons that they are so popular. In Japan you will find them at the site of the most sacred and holy places. The temple of Buddha, historical landmarks, Shinto shrines and the medieval castles Feudal Japan are just a few of the many places you will find beautiful public Japanese gardens.
Below you will find five steps and advice on how to incorporate the traditional Japanese style Garden into your outdoor living space. There are several types of traditional Japanese Garden designs and it would do well to look them all over before deciding on the one for your space. Some may not translate as well as others in the same amount of garden space.
Karesansui gardens: This is a garden that does not use water as its central focus, instead the creative use of rocks and moss represent islands, ponds, boats, mountains, rivers and oceans in this picturesque landscape. One such famous Karensansui Garden is to be found in the temple in Kyoto, Ryoan-ji. The Daisen-in was created in the 1500″s and is still as lovely as ever.
Tsukiyama Gardens: This technique is great when you have a small garden. The premise is to use the surrounding scenery as a backdrop to enlarge the view of your garden. The idea is to use shrubbery to block out unsightly areas and draw the attention to a large copse of trees or hills in the background. Ponds, garden fountains and streams, hills and all of the other traditional accouterments are used in this style of garden. Some of these gardens are themed with Asian Decor items.
Kaiy-Shiki: A favorite style of western landscape artists is the strolling gardens. This design allows the landscape to change every few hundred feet and circumnavigates the entire garden. You can photo’s representative of this style all over the Internet.
Now here are five steps to take to get the most out of your space and to create a lovely rendition of a traditional Japanese garden.
1.) Japanese gardens should have a pond or stream with bridges and miniature trees and immaculately manicured shrubs.
2.) Research some famous gardens and then pick a theme for your garden. It is important that the theme flow throughout the garden. If you start a meditation Garden that is what is should be throughout. Be consistent in your design.
3.) Use the traditional elements as required for a Japanese style Garden. These are stone, water, and gravel as well as the alignment of the plants. All of these are essential items for a Japanese Garden.
4.) Japanese Gardens have a Sculptured look and you have to stay true to this form. Pavilions, pagodas, stepping stones all should have a certain amount of Feng Shui about their set up.
5.) Decide on the plants and other decorations from the start and map out the area to best fit the items you intend to incorporate into the garden. If your space does not allow for water to be used substitute raked colored gravel to simulate the flow of water in and around your plants.
Now you have a working idea of how best to begin your Japanese Garden.
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