11 
June, i 9 i 6 
JAPANESE GARDENS IN AMERICA 
The Fabric and Spirit Transplanted in the Environment of 
the Western World — Size and Treatment — Water Requirements 
J. FLETCHER STREET and COLLIER STEVENSON 
H ERE in America today there are two 
distinct garden types—the formal and 
the informal. Under the first classification 
are grouped the gardens which partake of 
a strong French or Italian influence; under 
the other are ranked those which owe their 
inspiration in a measure to English cottage 
gardens or to the more naturalistic Japanese 
forms. 
The formal type of garden is successful 
only when a proper balance between parts 
has been established, the important axis 
determined and emphasized, and when the 
relation existing between trees, shrubs and 
plants has been duly considered. On the 
other hand, the informal garden is a failure 
if it even remotely suggests any tendency 
toward display, if it possesses any 
ambiguity of form or function, if 
it lacks mystery and repose—if, in 
short, it is not productive of “gar¬ 
den atmosphere.” The one is as 
aristocratic in its bearing as the 
other is democratic in its appeal. 
It is problematical whether 
America will ever find herself and 
develop a type of gardening char¬ 
acteristically her own; but, if she 
does, it will probably be along 
such lines as Nature has sug¬ 
gested. 
Startling effects are striven for 
and actually created in our peren¬ 
nial borders for perhaps May and 
June; but, afterwards, the ragged 
and bedraggled edges are patched 
up with annuals or bedding plants. 
All this, of course, means much 
labor and no little expense. But 
when we turn to Nature, although 
we find her lavish, there is a 
peculiar harmony in her display, 
whereby we gain pleasure and 
contentment. True, the flowers 
bloom and die for her as well as 
for us; but their loss is less poig¬ 
nant, so perfectly do all the 
features of a natural landscape 
blend. The lesson is obvious; we 
must learn that flowers alone no 
more make a garden than mere 
furniture constitutes a house. 
Japanese Gardens the Ideal 
So we turn, perhaps, to the 
Japanese style of gardening, as 
conforming more nearly to our 
ideals of what a garden should be 
than does any other foreign pro¬ 
totype; but, in so doing, we neglect such 
features as meditative gods of stone, gro¬ 
tesque forms of animals, praying shrines 
and other things which mean much to the 
Japanese in a religious or emblematic sense, 
but absolutely nothing to us. 
To the native of Japan, a garden is 
Fancy’s Playground, a veritable place of 
romance, which he guards with jealous care, 
holding it as a retreat for contemplation and 
rest of mind. There all associations must 
be friendly, there no rancor and strife of 
business life must have place. “Replete 
with illusion!” one might object—but, if 
they convey to us some poetic thought or 
romantic truth, why not illusions? It is, 
indeed, the lack of romance and mystery 
in our gardens which renders them so 
stupid. 
If a garden offers nothing beyond a set¬ 
ting for tree, shrub or flower, it falls far 
short of its purpose. If it be suggestive 
of new emotions, if it guides our thoughts 
back to forgotten truths, if it helps us to 
lead brighter and cleaner lives, then it is in¬ 
finitely successful and joyous. 
There is this to be said for the Japanese 
type of garden—it is available for very 
small areas. It can be developed upon a 
plot of ground 10' square quite as success¬ 
fully as when many acres are utilized. 
There are, of course, certain fixed laws de¬ 
termining its conformation in a Japanese 
sense, but none governing its outline in the 
America adaptation, except that 
of harmonizing naturally with the 
surroundings. 
The Matter of Composition 
In the designing of this type of 
garden, attention must first be 
given to the foreground, then to 
the middle ground, and finally to 
the distant view. Smaller trees 
and shrubs should comprise the 
foreground planting. For the mid¬ 
dle ground, or “halfway position,” 
the planting should be more neu¬ 
tral in the color of its leafage or 
florescence than that employed for 
the foreground. Trees — to em¬ 
phasize a distant point — should 
accord with the natural forms sur¬ 
rounding them, so that the termi¬ 
nation of the actual garden will 
not be distinctly evident. 
In all planting, both the method 
and material must be determined 
by the character of the situation. 
For example, rolling ground is 
suggestive of mountainous coun¬ 
try, and its planting should con¬ 
form to that impression. On the 
other hand, low, flat areas give a 
sense of the pastoral, thus de¬ 
manding an open, sunny and 
peaceful effect in the planting. 
Almost every garden of Japan¬ 
ese type possesses water—it may 
be only to the extent of a shallow 
pool, with but a single variety of 
plant growing along its edges. 
This is, however, sufficient for the 
very small garden; but for one 
situated at the bottom of a ravine, 
or in an extensive low sweep be- 
The Tori gate, originally a water gate in Japan, is used 
with effective results in an adapted form for American 
gardens. J. Fletcher Street, landscape architect 
