LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING 1791 



2082. Suggestions for subdivision of small grounds. Page 17SG. 



height yonder, with a forest of several ages, and down 

 in its front lie the shrubs, rocks, and streams, the space 

 between the two being made indistinguishable, as if 

 both were in one stage. 



No matter what nobility owns a garden, thousands 

 of modest cottagers are now and then permitted to 

 peep in, and to present their opinions, and such oppor- 

 tunity has gradually led them to provide lovely little 

 gardens about their dwellings at virtually no cost or 

 no burden. It is told that this gentle art is still largely 

 kept a close secret of craftsmen, and has scarcely been 

 put into books. Nevertheless, the soul of the household 

 is conveyed into every garden, to open the flowers and 

 to grow "the trees, and not merely the skill of some hired 

 gardener. Upon the princij^les laid some centuries ago, 

 the sweet flowers enlighten the harmony of the family, 

 the vigorous shrubs give a feeling that they have grovvn 

 there in the course of the years, and so they all convey 

 to the house a quiet air of being long married or a 

 mother of growing children. This is the real sentiment 

 of the Japanese, who can hardly live even a day without 

 a Burden. ~ jg.,^ Tanimura. 



.4 classical Japanese garden (Verbeck). Fig. 2086. 



The art of gardening was brought to Japan from 

 China and Korea by the Buddhist missionarifs in 

 the sixth century. The first gardens were 

 attached to Buddhist monasteries and gen- 

 erally were representations of celebrated 

 scenes in China. Religious significance was 

 given to their construction and the principal 

 stones were named after Byddhist deities or 

 their attributes. 



From the Fujiwara to the Ashikaga era 

 (.seventh to thirteenth century), the evolu- 

 tion harmonized palace with garden, and 

 bridges, small cottages, and conventional 

 garden ornaments were introduced. During 

 the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, under 

 the influence of the priests, Muso and Soami, 

 of the Zen sect, the "Cha no yu'' or "tea 

 ceremony," marie itself felt in the evolution 

 of the garden which thenceforth was given a 

 further religious character. Other great ex- 

 ponents of the religious "tea ceremony" were 

 Enshiu and Sen-no-Rikiu; the latter designed 



the gardens at Fushimi for the great Hideyoshi in the 

 sixteenth century. Both have left many monuments 

 in the shape of beautiful gardens now existing. The 

 laws of gardening establisheil by these masters form 

 the basis of all conventions of the art of landscape 

 gardening in Japan today. Later artists elaborated 

 landscape gardening until in the more recent Tokugawa 

 era the art had reacheil its highest refinement. 



Many schools of gardening have been evolved from 

 the classical models. There are the hill and the flat 

 garden, those where the pond is the feature and others 

 where the water is merely outlined and represented by 

 dry water-courses of pebbles and sea-sand. There are 

 the finished and highly ornate style; the intermediate 

 or less elaborate style, following nature closely; and the 

 free or rough style where bold and simple treatment 

 predominates and but few of the conventional elements 

 are introduced. 



The Japanese garden is mostly green and is not of 

 flowers. It is the scenery of a country in miniature, 

 and gives the impression of a picture. The undulations 

 of the hills, the outcropping of rocks and distribution 

 of verdure closely follow nature. Hills, stones and 

 trees have special names and have an order of rank 

 according to shape, location, function and sacred char- 

 acter. Stones constitute the skeleton of the garden to 

 which hills, vegetation and water-courses are sub- 

 sidiary. Sex is attributed to stones, large, bold and 

 rugged masses being regarded as masculine when placed 

 in apposition to lower masses which are supposed to be 

 feminine. Stones should be irregular and well-worn 

 and placed as if arranged by natural forces. 



In a Japanese garden there is a preponderance of 

 evergreens for effect in winter. Of deciduous trees the 

 plum and cherry are favored because of their breaking 

 into leaf early in the year, and maples because of their 

 autumnal coloring. Free use is made of azaleas, mag- 

 nolias, camellias, rhododendrons, wistarias, tree peonies, 

 daphnes, hydrangeas, and so on. Clip])ing and shear- 

 ing of trees is much practised. Pines are bent into 

 conventional shapes. Trees are stunted and dwarfed 

 for use in the distance to heighten the effect of perspec- 

 tive. Flowering plants are placed in handsome pots 

 adjacent to the dwelling. Iris is grouped near wells and 

 watercourses. 



A typical garden following the classical ideals in 

 intermediate style is here outlined. 



The dwelling is so placed as to shield the garden 

 from the malign influences of the north wind. The 

 extreme vista must be to the south where rises hill 1, 

 an imposing conical mound representing a distant 

 mountain with sweeping sides. Beside it, to the left, 

 should be its consort, hill 2, of lesser height and gentler 

 slope. On the further slopes should appear a fringe of 

 foliage to act at once as a frame to the picture and to 

 harmonize it with scenery beyond the garden. Rising 



2083. Plan for an open block or "square" in the busy part of a city. Page 1 



