EPISODE X
HE SAID: There's a joke in my family that, whenever I develop a new interest, the first thing I do is go out and buy three books on the subject. I bought a lot more than that to satisfy my curiosity about Japanese gardening. But a few became pivotal to our efforts to define the "Big Idea."
The "Big Idea" spelled out (above).
"Garden Views I-IV" are an exquisite set of books by Tatsui Teien Kenkyujo on different styles of Japanese gardens. Comprised mainly of full page photographs, the volumes also offer plans and plant lists in the back.
What made the books especially useful was the fact that the illustrated gardens are all small in scale, mostly domestic. The English translation of the text is weak, but conveys the essential ideas. This series is long out of print but worth watching for in used bookstores or online.
An awful lot of mythology has evolved around Japanese gardens over the centuries. Things can get pretty muddled if you start reading the early texts about the construction and meaning of gardens.
"Regarding the placement of stones there are many taboos.
If so much as one of these taboos is violated,
the master of the household will fall ill and eventually die,
and his land will fall into desolation
and become the abode of devils.
— from "Sakuteiki," a Japanese gardening classic
The book that helped us cut through a lot of the obscurity surrounding the subject was "Japanese Garden Design," by Marc Peter Keane, who has been designing and building gardens in Japan since 1985. It is a beautifully designed and illustrated book that offers a Western gardener a concise and understandable overview of the history, styles and design principles of Japanese gardening.
I think it's clear in retrospect, however, that the book which had the most profound effect on our planning process was "The Inward Garden: Creating a Place of Beauty and Meaning" by Julie Moir Messervy with photos by Sam Abell. Although it is not — strictly speaking — a book about Japanese gardening, I think that Messervy's approach to design allows one to incorporate whatever leads to a satisfying solution.
To quote from the jacket of her book, " 'The Inward Garden' is a celebration of the artistic process: it teaches us to trust our individual creativity, to listen to our aesthetic impulses, to design with our heart. An exhilarating experience, it awakens in us the power of nature and the magic of special places in our busy lives."
THE FINAL GARDEN PLAN: The orange lines (above) are the network of paths that divide the property into a number of named gardens and discrete planting combinations. The black dots are the trunks of trees and shrubs, the blue pond should be obvious and the striped rectangle off the back of the house is the deck. The small black square near the pond is the teahouse (still under construction).
We especially liked Messervy's concept of "archetypal places," such as the sea, the mountain, the promontory and the cave. We began naming areas of the garden in a way that described the kind of feeling we wanted them to evoke when completed. This helped to keep our plans focused but it also made it easier for us to communicate with one another. When either of us suggested an idea for the "sacred grove," we knew that it referred to an actual place in the garden as well as a concept.
Not long ago, Kathy Purdy from Cold Climate Gardening, talked about the desirability of having a vision statement for one's garden. Oddly enough, I recently came across some notes I made for a talk I gave, not long after we started this garden. Among them I found this paragraph:
"Consensus is an ongoing process for us. But we eventually arrived at a point where we could say that our garden would be a somewhat eclectic mix of plant material grown in discrete areas divided by a network of paths. The centerpiece of the garden would be a pond. We would allow the entire conception to be influenced by the aesthetics of Japanese gardening while not concerning ourselves with strict authenticity. Wherever it seemed appropriate, we would use a Western analog for a traditional Eastern feature, such as a copper pipe instead of a bamboo tube."
Twelve years on, I think it still describes pretty well what we are up to.
NO JOKE: Our books related to Asian gardens (Chinese and Japanese), water features and stone. This does not include the titles on Eastern philosophy, art, architecture or interiors. Or those on dozens of other facets of gardens and gardening.
Follow the history of our garden by clicking on My Garden Odyssey in the category list.
You like to stack things. :-) That's a nice-looking library on Japanese gardens.
I enjoy Messervy's writing and will check out the book you recommended. And maybe the de-mythologizing one too. Thanks.
Posted by: Pam/Digging (Austin) | Friday, January 30, 2009 at 08:17 AM
I think Messervy is great! Have you seen her book "Outside the Not-So-BIg House"? And she has a new one coming out that looks good. I am getting a review copy from her publisher.
Posted by: LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD | Friday, January 30, 2009 at 08:44 AM
Yes, I have "Outside the Not-So-Big House" and enjoyed it. I'll have to look into her new one.
Posted by: Pam/Digging (Austin) | Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 02:02 AM