Creating a Japanese Serenity Garden
Email To Friend | share this article | Posted by Anna on May 9th in Landscaping.
The Japanese serenity garden is famous for it beautiful tranquility that promotes peace, calm, and relaxation. What better place to rejuvenate your soul after a stressful day than amongst the gentle stillness of your backyard garden?
A water feature is an important inclusion in serenity gardens. A koi pond is a signature feature in Japanese gardens. These large and colorful fish will quietly add a touch of living beauty to your garden.
The Zen Garden is often located within the serenity garden and is designed to imitate the ocean. Take a large space and place rocks and statues where you desire. Surround the statues with gravel, and you have an ocean with islands. One of the Zen traditions is to rake designs into the gravel. Some fitting accessories you can include in your Zen Garden would be the Japanese Pagoda Fountain, oriental furniture, and Japanese Lanterns.
One defining characteristic of Japanese gardens is how perfectly maintained they are. They limit the amount of new plants, utilizing as much of the native landscaping as possible. Bamboo fencing is used to complete the privacy effect, filling in whatever holes are left in the natural barriers. Not only that, but it contributes to the Asian feel. Stone pathways are also commonly used within the gardens. They tend to always be staggered or curved, never straight.
Japanese garden houses were often included in serenity gardens. They consist of small buildings that provide shelter for viewing the gardens, and were also used for taking tea and meditating. This illustration depicts one such garden house in a truly exquisite setting: Serenity Garden.
Planning your Japanese serenity garden can be a fun project, not to mention how rewarding it will be in the end. Request free estimates from pre-screened contractors to begin creating your own restful escape.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Your blog looks great! Thought you might be interested in reading a story about the Japanese Garden at the University of Illinois at Springfield. It can be seen here: http://www.uis.edu/newsbureau/2008/05/japanese-garden-dedicated-at-uis.html
May 21st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Thanks for sending the University of Illinois link. An interesting take on the Japanese garden as a link between two sister schools located an ocean away from one another.