How to Design a Japanese Garden: The Essential Points
Article by Iqbal Mahmudi
How to design a Japanese Garden: The Essential Points
By Iqbal Mahmudi
As more and more people are attracted in gardens with Japanese style, the question on How to Design a Japanese Garden is raised more often than it was ever before. These themed landscapes are very beautiful as well as peaceful. They are beautified with various kinds of plants that soothe not only the air, but the eyes of everyone who sees them as well. A large number of cities in many different countries such as ones in the United States and the United Kingdom even have their own Japanese gardens that are built as public spaces. The elements of nature are brought into or symbolized by specific landscape props that can perfectly represent the beauty of the nature. To answer the aforementioned question, someone must involve learning the philosophy that lies behind it or become its background. When it comes to the decision in planning and making such a landscape in a very limited space, these philosophy become very essential to maintain the traditional design consistency even when there are only few elements to be included.
The following are two key points to consider and prepare when determining to build a Japanese landscape:
How To Design A Japanese Garden – The Philosophy
If one is trying to find the answer to the aforementioned question through books, websites, or asking some advices from the experts, he or she will find that before any design plan is made; the philosophy must be firstly understood. Each and every element of the nature that is used in the Japanese landscape represents something that is widely available in the nature. Stones and rocks are placed to represent islands and mountains, ponds are meant to represent lakes, and a stretch of raked sand symbolizes the ocean. These elements of nature are portrayed in the garden in a smaller form representation such as ones we will see on the garden props. In fact, the basic principles in creating such a gorgeous landscape come from the nature given that the ultimate purpose of any Japanese garden is to bring a piece of nature to where people live. The garden props used in Japanese garden are supposed to look like the way the nature has it; nothing artificial should be applied. That explains why the element of water is symbolized by waterfall instead of fountain. Balance is also an important point on creating the perfect nature of your would-be garden. The in and yo, or yin and yang in Chinese, are all about you need when making it. No element should over shadow the other. You should also make sure that colors should be beautifully and artistically arranged to bring harmony and peace into it instead of riot.
How To Design A Japanese Garden – The Key Elements
There are several key elements that should be included when someone is considering building a Japanese landscape. Natural key elements such as water, soil, and rocks are some of the elements that you may notice to be part of a Japanese style garden. In fact, there are several other elements that become the mark of traditional Japanese gardens. One of them is the lantern. Usually, the lanterns of which ultimate function is as a complement in the particular landscape are made of stone. They are often placed next to the element of water, such as waterfall or a small pond. Other garden prop made of stone that is used as the key element in such a garden is water basin. Traditionally, it is placed there to help people to wash their hands before starting a tea ceremony. The tea ceremony is held in a tea house built within the garden. In fact, such a tea house or a mere gazebo becomes another key element or prop in this peaceful place.
The essential points every person should consider how to design a Japanese garden are the philosophy behind the garden itself and the key elements that define the Japanese garden from others with different styles. Conclusively, you should never neglected these two essential points since they are the unique backgrounds that makes Japanese gardens so special, unique and different from other garden design available in the world.
About the Author
Iqbal Mahmudi, a Writer and garden Lover.
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