My initial intention for this article was to outline the different features of the Japanese garden.
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However, after my recent trip to Japan, I have learnt that there is so much more to the Japanese people’s use of plants and features that can’t be summed up just by talking about rocks and bonsais.
Throughout Japan, the presence of nature is overwhelming.
Almost every street is lined with heavily pollarded plane, gingko or tulip trees. Vast expanses of gardens fall out into the distance, interrupted only by the rise of buildings behind the tree line.
It’s hard to believe that with a population of 127 million, there is enough space to have such big expanses of nature. The question then becomes, why?
There is, undoubtedly, a number of reasons Japan is so green, but a few things stood out to me as we were shown around Tokyo.
Japan is a Shinto-Buddhist country.
Shintoism is an indigenous religion in Japan that worships nature, with millions of gods.
All of these gods are believed to take the form of mountains, rivers, wind, rain and trees.
Because of this, these elements of nature play a large role in the Japanese cityscape.
To many westerners, the Japanese garden style can be overly simplistic and plain when compared to our elaborate parterre and cottage garden designs.
I found when walking around the gardens in Japan that there was a lot of space. The distances between individual plants created a landscape of their own.
Rocks were placed just so, representing mountains, cliffs or sand on a beach.
Water was used to symbolise lakes, rivers or oceans.
These gardens, I learnt, are designed to mimic Japanese wilderness, tell stories and create a feeling of calm in those who enter the gardens.
Though, to us, the Japanese garden style may seem simple and somewhat ordinary, the culture of tradition that is so alive in Japan has meant that the art of creating peace, harmony and sacredness in their gardens has not been lost.
Perhaps, when you look to design a new garden or section of your garden, you might use principles similar to the Japanese to create your own slice of harmony and peace, to tell your own story or represent your own kind of wilderness.
Diary Dates: Pruning workshop, Wodonga TAFE. Need to know how and what to prune in spring? Enrol in the spring pruning workshop on Saturday, October 22, 9am to noon, $50. For more information or to enrol call 1300 MY TAFE (1300 698 233).