The Japanese garden is a garden built in the Japanese style, the aim of which is to delight and reflect at the same time, to be a peaceful, calm place for deepening and meditation. Its less spiritual purpose is to present interestingly shaped stones, rare plant species.

What's the point?

Gardens built according to a set of rules not defined for Japanese gardens. Here is the sight, the big picture, that when we sit down there, we feel like we have arrived at the most perfect place to watch inward. Where every day, in every season, we can see a slightly different face to our multi-dimensionally composed painting.

Traditional styles

Traditionally, according to the style of the garden, it can be a shin form that is closest to nature, a scaled-down copy of natural images, and can be so formed, that is, striving for simplicity. The transition between the two is the gyo form. The layout of the shin-style gardens was decorative, the gardens of the central buildings were such. The arrangement of the elements of this kind of garden is rare, asymmetrical, abstract. Buddhist temple gardens were built in this style. In the gyo style, the arrangement is freer, the arrangement of the elements is rarer. In the case of residential houses, there are such gardens in front of the garden and the dining room.

Several varieties of Japanese gardens are known, such as the traditional Japanese garden, the dry garden, and the tea garden, to which the Japanese tea ceremony is also associated. Each has its own characteristics.

Elements of the Japanese garden

The most important components of Japanese gardens are water, stones and rocks. The water usually appears in the form of an artificial pond, which is sometimes fed by a spring, so a stream flows through some gardens. In dry gardens, the water is “replaced” by white sand or cobblestone, where lines can be drawn to indicate the ripple of the water. The stones are revered by the Japanese, and often the most special ones are obtained from distant lands. Roads in the garden are also usually paved with stones. The use of artificial hills, islands, waterfalls, wooden bridges, large pebbles, stone lanterns, stone pools, and possibly stone pagodas is common. The gates are made of bamboo or Japanese wood species. Pavilions are less common than in Chinese gardens.

Vegetation of the Japanese garden

Flowers are usually planted at the entrance, and the garden is usually characterized by a main characteristic flower, which is different in each season, seasonally. Plant use is special. It is mainly the variety of forms that dominates the color of the foliage of the trees. The grass is usually cleared. The most important are evergreens, maple trees, Japanese cherry trees, bushes and shrubs. Moss and bamboo are also important elements. Typical plants that can be grown in Hungary are bamboo, fern, moss, Japanese black pine, Japanese camellia, finger maple, Japanese cherry, peach, rhododendron, shadow lily, laurel cherry, boxwood. It is also the case that, due to climatic conditions, other types of plants are planted than those native to Japan, but they still try to follow the traditions.