nedelja, 31. januar 2016

Japanese Landscape – Retreat Into a Better World



Urban residents of metropolises such as London tend towards replacing nature and activities provided by carefully maintained landscapes. Green areas in large cities have become a vital potential for a breather, an escape, an opportunity to relax, and finally an indicator of the quality of life. One of the largest botanic gardens, an hour's drive from the busy city-center of London, offers a fantastic stroll among flora from different corners of the world. Kew Gardens never fails to fascinate me, fill me with inspiration, and always helps me to connect a thought or two of future-planing. Mapping out specific moments of the future can soon become boring, so giving yourself over to the gentle spring sun among the art of the Far East is invaluable in preventing days from blending into one another and life from becoming too monotonous.

Article and photography: Klementina Tement, landscape architect





The main feature of the Japanese gardens is not the geometric pattern of the design, it is the organic part of it – using the proper plant material or even complete abstraction helps create marvelous depictions of nature. What makes the gardens stand out is the isolated geographic location of the archipelago and especially the spiritual movements which prompted their creation. Carefully chosen rocks and unique-looking trees are by no means a coincidence. The belief in higher forces and the admiration of nature and its power were the main prompts for creating such unique garden art.



Parts of the composition are trimmed evergreen shrubs – karikomi. The trimming makes the plants anonymous masses without a separate personality.

Less is More
In the midst of fragrant, blooming jasmine I stroll towards a meticulously raked gravel area  surrounded by trimmed and blooming azaleas (Rhododendron ‘Mothers’ Day’). Spreading out in a dense mass among the azaleas is the Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis), the vertical growth pattern of fringed irises (Iris japonica) interrupting the colourful waves. Among the patches of plants growing into one another and creating a rhythm, I can hear the notes of the traditional  shamisena playing in my mind.


The gravel river, winding from the North to the South, as is typical for all element placement.
The weather and water help form the rocks into especially interesting, characteristic shapes

It is all about the contrasting placement of the elements: on one side the gravel plane, on the other the more substantial elements – rocks and plant masses. The landscape is an interesting combination and representation of the different types of Japanese gardens in which their creators use the plants and building elements to tell a story as they imagine it. The symbolic landscape in the Garden of Activity represents various natural elements: waterfalls, rocks, mountains and the sea. A part of this representation is the dry garden - karesanzui, where numerous symbolic motives can be seen in the different elements used in its composition. From afar I admire the rocks and gravel representing floating islands amidst a sea, the carefully maintained, higher-placed plants providing a beautiful frame for the whole scene. My gaze is guided onwards by the plant-life growing further away and gradually higher, leading and framing the way into the Garden of Peace.


The rhythm of the garden: switches between open and closed space, mie gakure, after the principle of seen and hidden.
Pines, maples and cherries are the most typical representatives of the taller vegetation.   


The tea garden is another type of Japanese garden, in which the ascetic aesthetic of the shrubbery, stone lanterns and interesting paths leads me on, into a 'better world'. Traditionally, these gardens create an ambient of wilderness, simplicity, and form a secluded space, offering refuge from the outside world. This monochromatic garden employs numerous leaf-textures and a rich undergrowth of ferns, foregoing any unnecessary elements which might disrupt my thoughts on the path to the Garden of Harmony. A symbiosis of both previous gardens can be seen in the plants and other elements of this garden, as well as in their placement.

Unaffected naturalness, asymmetry, and a lack of noise are characteristics that best sum up the impressions of the Japanese part of the Kew Gardens. This garden is in itself a story, which in its mysteriousness does not limit my wandering thoughts and represents freedom from everything real. Green as the only colour used further highlights the tension of the shapes of the basic design.

Enlightenment can be found in any rock or shrub as well, we only need to notice the simpler things, think, and go into ourselves.




Japanese masters of the 5th century thought up the philosophy, which still holds true today, that these gardens are not merely a representation of nature, but are, more importantly, food for the soul.