Zen Temple Gardens – Japanese Gardens

In Kyoto I noticed quite a few Zen temple gardens and jotted down some commonalities which can be useful within the building of a Zen garden. The gardens I visited were of immense history and place and I couldn’t assist feeling awed to be in their presence. My feedback could also be useful for that weekend gardener wanting something of Zen to point out off their entrance backyard or add lustre and magnificence to a confined space!

Thinking I’m a mere mortal walking inside these gardens and they having transported themselves basically intact in some cases, centuries by means of time. The gardens freeze time and observe life (and ourselves) as we combine with them and so they witness to the histories of the place. Do Zen places do that? I think they do.

I’ve noticed Zen gardens are protected by boundaries on all sides. Three boundaries to provide the body and the forth, the viewing area. The viewing location of the garden important and normally a veranda set alongside a building.

Veranda’s have some commonalities. They’re wooden, raised above the backyard, run alongside the backyard, open onto rooms behind whose useful uses range from place to place. Verandas coated and their width varying. Some have a step along the side to assist these wanting to sit and repose. The remaining boundaries are fixed buildings and function to display screen and shield the garden from intrusion. These boundaries present the backdrop to the backyard and usually set the scene for the backyard display.

Materials used within Zen gardens embody sands, gravels and stone. Stone and rock placement I feel is crucial to the design and different components attach themselves to them including crops and raked gravels, pebbles or sand.

Zen gardens are symbolised landscapes e.g., a stone could characterize a mountain and the raked sand signify the sea or a stream. The hare and tortoise formations have been frequent themes in Kyoto Zen gardens.

I discover rocks symbolise Yang and Yin. Rocks set vertically for Yang and horizontally for Yin. Water imagery used in the stone basin or via raked sands and gravels.

Vegetation was present in most gardens. Grasses, moss, maybe some transitional vegetation reminiscent of fern. Shrubs varied in measurement all neatly clipped and shaped and conforming to others and offering an total composition. Sometimes trees current together with maple and more commonly a species of pine.

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