50 GARDEN DESIGN 



the symbolism expressed in a Japanese landscape 

 design. A Japanese garden in England can never 

 mean more than a dainty arrangement of water 

 and stones, planted with Japanese plants and 

 ornamented with Japanese lanterns and architec- 

 ture. We could not produce anything intelligible 

 to a Japanese, and only lay ourselves open to criti- 

 cism similar to that politely offered by a Japanese 

 when shown a garden of this nature in England. 

 He innocently thought to praise it by saying he 

 had never seen anything like it in his own country. 

 At the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910, in 

 London, two of the most famous landscape gar- 

 deners were. sent over to construct specimens of 

 their art. The general opinion was that the 

 results were disappointing, most people thinking 

 they had disposed of them by saying there were 

 no flowers to speak of. The fact is, that unless 

 one knows what is aimed at, criticism is futile. 

 Colour is not the first consideration in a Japanese 

 garden, and it is a pity for the sake of design that 

 it so dominates the western taste. If we cared 

 more for form our gardens would lose less of their 

 interest when summer is over. At present we 

 rely so much on colour that when the garden is 

 bare its beauty is almost gone, whereas a good 

 design is pleasant whether in colours or mono- 

 chrome. In how many English gardens is a fall 

 of snow valued for the charm it brings ? Yet a 

 Japanese garden is laid out with expectation of 



