Japanese gardens are built mainly for two reasons: recreation or meditation. The earliest forms of Japanese gardens borrowed heavily from Chinese styles before it evolved into its own. Traditional Japanese gardens are characterized by miniaturized versions of landscapes. They are often referred to as natural art in a limited space.
A Japanese garden consists of several elements including water, rocks and sand, garden architecture and bridges, stone lanterns, water basins, fish, trees, and flowers. The end result is almost like a landscape painting or a postcard picture with everything in its place with nothing left to chance. There is nothing wild about a Japanese garden with everything trimmed according to the intention of the designer.
Given these precise specifications, homeowners might easily be intimidated by the apparent degree of work involved in maintaining a Japanese garden. Although it would require some planning to come up with one’s own Japanese garden, it can be done. It is actually a simpler process than creating other gardens since it is based on working on existing landscape conditions. A Japanese garden design always takes into account what is naturally available instead of seeking to destroy in order to build.
The simplest Japanese garden can be achieved using a manageable area size. Garden owners are advised not to take on more than they can handle at once. The first thing to do is choose the area to be redone as the garden. Keeping in mind the garden elements mentioned above, people can choose which ones to incorporate in their garden.
Remember that everything can be done in a smaller scale. The water element can be represented by small garden structures that make use of flowing water. Stone lanterns and designer rocks can be strategically placed in designated areas. Grass maintenance need not even be a concern due to the availability of synthetic grass such as those offered by Global Synthetic Grass Australia. An easy-to-do Japanese garden can be finished in no time.
Image: tokyogreenspace
About the Guest Blogger
Joel Hunter is a landscape designer connected with GlobalSyntheticGrass.com.au .