GARDENS
Preethi D
DRY GARDENS
Dry garden - japan’s garden style As a distinct garden style, the dry landscape traces its lineage to the Heian period karasenzui
kasansui
karesansui
( “dry or withered mountains and water”) to indicate a part of a larger estate garden in which water is not present physically.
( “pseudo or false mountains and water”) was also used, and the implication was specifically that landscape should be viewed as a symbolic rather than representational.
(“dry or withered mountains and water”) which referred to the entire design of a garden where water was absent.
In essence, the dry landscape garden is simply a symbolic representation of mountains and water using rocks, sand, gravel, and moss
Rock garden Kongobuji temple on koyasan
Raked sand at Ginkakuji
Tofukuji temple
GOING MENTAL Dry landscape gardens are sometimes referred to as “mental gardens” or “gardens of the mind”. rock gardens are places for the prolonged and rigorous practice of Zen meditation, some even providing flat-topped rocks are there on which they meditate.
A dry landscape at a private restaurant. three stepping-stones end up into the “sea” of shikisuna “spreading sand”), one is not actually meant to walk along them. In effect, they draw the eye, and therefore the mind, into the midst of the composition. The aoishi , or Bluestone in the foreground turns a magnificent green in the spring rains
LESS IS MORE
The green hues of this magnificent aoishi brought out by the rain.
• Karesansui is characterized by a minimalist approach in which nature is represented in abstract, using only the judicious placement of rock, sand or gravel, moss, and shrub. • Designed to eradicate all superfluities and to force the mind to slow the processes of thought. • The dry landscape garden has the added advantage that it is virtually unaffected to extremes of weather and cannot be readily destroyed by fire, water, ice, or wind. Droughts do not harm it, nor do earthquakes damage it excessively. But a more practical reason for the prevalence of dry landscapes may have been simply the absence of natural springs or flowing water at the garden sites.
AT RAKISH ANGLE • The stones and plantings are relatively permanent, but new patterns are raked into the gravel each time rain, wind or time have broken them down or destroyed them. • Raked gravel adds a textural element and helps to create or enhance ambiance. Depending on the style and size of the ridges created, a softly lapping ocean or a rapidly-flowing river may be invoked, and the ridges will catch the sun as it travels across the sky, providing onlookers with ever-changing panoramas. • The lighter the hue of gravel, the more effective the garden will be under moonlight. It is a form of meditation in motion Raking the sand into intricate designs, or even into straight and parallel lines, takes enormous concentration.
ARANAMIMON (stormy waves pattern): This term can refer either to large, rough ridges that
invoke stormy seas or -interwoven semi-circular ripples. In this latter manifestation, it appears like the surface of a pond cratered by numerous raindrops so that each set of concentric rings has merged partially with its neighbours.
ICHIMATSUMON (“pattern”): A checkerboard pattern of interspersed raked and flattened squares, the weave of which changes direction like woven threads.
MIZUMON (water pattern)A generic term for concentric ripple patterns or wavelets surrounding
rocks. In their purest form, mizumon resemble the concentric rings on the surface of water broken by a thrown pebble or a drop of rain. When they surround a rock, they appear like waves breaking around an island.
SEIGAIHAMON ( “blue sea
waves”; Sand raked into tightlyinterlocking semicircles to form a uniform pattern like the scales of a fish.
SAZANAMIMON (“ripple RYŪSUI (“running water”): Sand
raked to resemble flowing streams or rivers.
pattern”;): A generic name for a pattern of continuous waves or ripples drawn across a large expanse of sand or gravel.
In dry landscape design, the natural world is reproduced in several compositional elements, the most important of which are the dry stream, the dry waterfall and the dry pond.
KARENAGARE (“dry stream”):
Gravel and cobblestones are used to represent the flowing water of a stream or river. Such stream beds may be spanned by stone slab bridges (ishibashi ) and steppingstones (sawatari-ishi ), or intersected by dry waterfalls, in order to increase the illusion of flowing water.
KAREDAKI (“dry waterfall): The flow of water is
suggested by either carefully arranged rocks chosen for their color, texture and striations or by cascades created from raked sand and gravel. The term for the stone set vertically as a representation of the fall of water is kagami-ishi (“mirror rock”). Nansen-ji and Daitoku-ji contain fine Mirror Rocks, and in both cases, bluestone is the favored material.
WABI SABI -BEAUTY IN IMPERFECTION •Incorporate as asymmetry, incompleteness, impermanence, and simplicity. •A garden based around wabi-sabi incorporates natural and manmade elements in a way that allows visitors to appreciate their humble and imperfect forms. •This typically involves using not only plants but also stones and weathered manmade objects as design elements.
INFLUENCES •Many other aspects of Japanese art and culture, such as the tea ceremony and pottery making, and it is also seen as a way of life.
WABI SABI GARDENING IDEAS •One way to incorporate wabi-sabi garden design is to choose plants and objects that will change over time as the seasons change and the elements go to work on them
•Adding plants that provide natural textures in different seasons, like a tree with textured or peeling bark , is a great way to do this.
•Can be a way of imitating natural environments in a cared-for garden. •To explore natural changes in your wabi-sabi garden, plant perennials and self-seeding plants that will establish their own corners of the garden over the course of years. •Place stones in locations that will not receive foot traffic so that moss and lichens will grow over them.
CASE STUDY- RYON JI TEMPLE
Ryoanji is a temple located in north Kyoto, Japan affiliated with a branch of Zen Buddhism. The followers of Zen Buddhism pursued “enlightenment” or “awakening” by means of selfintrospection and personal experience in daily life. The quintessence and aesthetics of Zen is epitomized in the rock garden and architecture of Ryoanji
Like other Japanese rock gardens, the Ryoanji garden presents stones surrounded by raked white gravel with a minimal use of plants When visitors pass through main gate, they encounter the Mirror Pond on the left with a scenic view of surrounding mountains
Walking along the pilgrim’s path and entering the second gate, visitors arrive at the main building of the monastery, the hojoresidence. Hojo- King or powerful family
The rock garden is located in the front of the hojo and is viewed either from the wooden veranda embracing the building or from inside the room This type of garden consists of rocks and pebbles rather than vegetation and water, and was mainly created on the grounds of temples for encouraging contemplation. White gravel often symbolizes flowing elements such as waterfalls, rivers, creeks, or sea, while rocks suggest islands, shores, or bridges.
Fifteen rocks of different sizes are carefully arranged in groups amidst the raked pebbles covering a 250 square-meter rectangle of ground. The stones are carefully arranged so that one can only see no more than fourteen of the fifteen at once from any angle. They believe that if the person attain the level of enlightment all the fifteen stones can be seen. The garden is located on the south side of the hojo the main building used for the abbot’s personal study and living quarters. The hojo is divided into six rooms by sliding doors called fusuma ; three rooms on the south Reception room Lecture room Meeting room .
North side rooms - study, a changing room and a central room . Central rooms consist of three subdivisions of a serving chamber, alter, and sleeping room. The hojo also includes gardens on each side of the building a moss garden called the West Garden, a stone and moss garden, and a garden with a tea house 1. As an inner view, the Zen garden with its minimalist approach — barren rock, a bit of green moss and white sand — is a Sabi approach to see poverty in our mundane world. 2. The Wabi way of seeing leads us to transcend this materialistic world (with the least attraction) to the world of spirituality. The barrenness of the Karesansui garden represents removal of the defilement of worldly things. These