A Response To Nature

Page. 5

By EdySutio

#Nature seems. To have been touched just lightly by human hands in this garden. A Southern Indica azalea and a flowering plum provide brief seasonal color among black and evergreens. More and more, Americans are looking to the Japanese garden for inspiration in their own garden making. It is not surprising that the Japanese garden-a tranquil sanctuary for contemplating nature-has a strong appeal in our modern world.

THIS chapter is designed to help you conceive, plan, and construct a Japanese-style garden suited to your site and your own needs. You will be introduced to the spirit of the Japanese garden, then led through every process and techniques for conceiving, planning, and building one of your own.

The first chapter discusses the uniquely Japanese concept of the garden’s relation to nature, a concept that has influenced the Japanese garden through its centuries of development, and does, still, today. The five basic styles are described in a historical context. The essential background information supplied in this chapter will prepare you for the lessons of the book and for the challenge of adapting Japanese gardens to American needs.

Later chapters examine key design principles and components of the Japanese garden. Step-by-step instructions are presented for choosing and building the garden and for selecting and maintaining plants, including bonsai. Also included is an examination of a Japanese garden that is beautifully suited to its American context.

Throughout the chapter, the message of this opening chapter will be kept before you: The Japanese garden-or the American garden with Japanese spirit-is a living response to the natural world, which includes people themselves.