A Japanese Touch for Your Garden

by Kiyoshi Seike, Masanobu Kudo, David H. Engel

Here is a concise introduction to the practical aspects of making a Japanese garden. Whether your garden is a spacious suburban lot, an office countyard, or a tiny inner-city backyard, you will find here hundreds of creative but time-honored ways to make maximum use of the space you have. You will learn how to lay stones and pathways and how to create intriguing sand patterns like the ones in Zen temple gardens. You will learn about Japanese lanterns, miniature pagodas, water basins, gates, and walls, and will be shown step by step how to make a bamboo lattice fence. Notes on the care of bamboo, moss, and grass are provided as are names of native North American plants and trees that can be substituted for conventional Japanese varieties. Schematic layout plans, detailed how-to explanations, and over 130 color photographs of Japanese gardens old and new give you ideas for endless variations. Thoroughly up-to-date in its approach and based on the principle that a garden must satisfy the gardener, not a set of inflexible guidelines, this book encourages you to choose freely from the wide range of traditional Japanese design elements that suit your needs and tastes.

Whether you live in the country, city, or somewhere in between, you will discover here numerous ways to transform--simply, inexpensively, and with your own two hands--that back porch, corridor, or yard into an intimate, tranquil oasis, one that will reward your planning and work with a rich and ever-changing beauty. Kiyoshi Selke was born in Kyoto in 1918 and holds degrees from the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. One of postwar Japan's most original and thoughtful residential designers, he was with Masanobu Kudo a chief editor of Sakutei no Jiten (Encyclopedia of Garden Making). He is currently professor emeritus at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Masanobu Kudo was born in Tokyo in 1924 and holds a degree in East Asian history from Kyoto University. He helped found the avant-garde Ohara school of flower arranging and in 1969 became the director of the Japan Ikebana Arts Association. An acknowledged expert on flowers, trees, and plants, he has contributed to numerous publications on flower arranging and Japanese gardens. David H. Engel, who served as editorial consultant for this volume, is a prominent American landscape architect and site planner. For several years in the 1950s, he studied in Japan under Tansai Sano, the late master landscape architect of Kyoto. Now in practice with an office in New York City, Mr. Engel does both private residential and large scale commercial and public work. His designs include Heian pavilions for the headquarters of the Gulf States Paper Corporation and the Japanese garden on the Rockefeller estate, acknowledged to be the finest in the Western world. A contributor to House Beautiful and The New Yorker, Mr. Engel is also the author of Japanese Gardens for Today and a forthcoming work, China's Gardens: Ancient Roots...Modern Lessons.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Japan, Reference, Horticulture, Japanese Literature, Plants

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read several Japanese garden design books (more along the architectural design lines as opposed to the "which plant to plant" sort of thing) over a couple of weeks - in comparison to those (and in its own right), this work was surprisingly thorough. I enjoyed the historical explanations for the various elements of the traditional Japanese gardens that have been built over the past few centuries. The pictures included in the work were excellent and very helpful as aides to the text.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stone, water, path, plants. This beautifully photographed book highlights courtyard, stone, temple, and water gardens, then deconstructs them to the elemental parts. Great details like tying techniques for fences, and arrangement methods for focus objects. The problem is that, despite the title, these gardens are ALL IN Japanese, not really “a touch.” Still a great reference. Recommended.

[Lilly Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are far too many things I would now like - a. A garden, b. A shishi odashi, c. A Japanese maple, d. A stone Buddha and e. A yukimi-gata lantern ...

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well illustrated manual detailing some DIY basics of Japanese gardens. You could get a good start on creating one based on this text. Its main shortcoming is that it's only 80 pages!

[KJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired greatly now.

[Ruhegeist · Rating 3 out of 5]

good beginning into to japanese gardens and how to add a touch to your own garden

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource with lots of color photos and explanatory text.

[Hrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice images.