Japanese Effects for Small Gardens (1910)

Florence Dixon was a regular contributor to The Craftsman between 1901 and 1916; the following article appeared in the September 1910 issue.

The special value of the Japanese garden in this country lies in its availability for small areas. Nowadays, when a man wants a garden, he plans for some definite landscape effect. Often the size of his lot precludes the possibility of an Italian garden or a naturalistic treatment after the English-American plan. But a Japanese garden may be had in all completeness in a space where one would have said there was scarcely room for a flower bed. The Japanese garden adapts itself to lack of space. Other systems copy nature on only one set of terms, those of life-size, but the japanese method, while it can be and often is developed on a large scale, may also be reduced from natural size through all stages to a tiny miniature.

If you have a nine-foot square of ground you can have an artistically
perfect and complete Japanese garden, while the opportunity offered by
a city lot would be all that an expert gardener would demand for an
elaborate production. Lafcadio Hearn describes a garden not over thirty
yards square which, seen through a window shutting out the surrounding
country, seemed an actual natural landscape viewed from a distance.

Aside from this great advantage, the Japanese garden has other
qualities which make it valuable for adaptation by American gardeners.
It furnishes a new note for those seeking original treatment of their
places. It has a beauty which grows upon acquaintance, and there is no
kind of garden which has about it a richer amount of sentiment and
tradition than the Japanese. Every hill, tree, rock, and flower has its
own special meaning and place in the picture, and although the
religious significance which attaches to these things must of necessity
be lost, the charm of the symbolism still remains.

In laying out a Japanese garden the maker should not only aim to copy
nature, but to reproduce a particular aspect or mood of nature. Such an
end is essentially artistic and does something no other garden attempts.

A Japanese garden may be the only garden of a place, or, in the case of
a large country estate, some part of it is usually set off and
developed on the Japanese plan. For instance, Central Park is, of
course, primarily a naturalistic park, but a section is treated in
Japanese style.

Once a Japanese garden has been determined upon, the method of
treatment under Japanese rules must be decided. The flat and the hilly
are the two main types of Japanese gardens. For the hilly type, which
offers the best possibilities for varied development, it must be
remembered, it is not necessary to have natural life-sized hills. A
hill may be a hill, a large hillock, a good sized mound, or perhaps a
rock with shrubs planted about it, or even a shrub cut in the shape of
a hill. A hill garden would imitate a mountain scene or some other
aspect of nature in which rocky or broken country predominates.
Recognized types are the Rocky Ocean, imitating an ocean inlet; Wide
River, in which a stream issuing from behind a hill runs into a lake;
Reed Marsh style, which copies a marshy pool overgrown with rushes, set
among low, rounded sand dunes, bordering on a moor. An essential for
the hilly type is a mountain or a hill plus water in some form. For a
flat garden the gardener has the floor of a mountain valley, a moor or
some rural scene for a model.

Water, a Japanese would declare, is an absolute necessity in a Japanese
garden. What the lawn is to the American system, water is to the
Japanese. Around it, as the central object, are grouped the other
features. Having imposed this inflexible condition, and while one is
wonder what effect of water one can manage on a suburban lot and if
every Japanese dwelling is equipped with a lake or stream, the Japanese
removes the difficulty with Oriental ease. There being no natural
water, gravel or sand may be raked and spread to imitate any desired
body of water. This gravel stream flows about rocks in its course and
must be spanned by a bridge or crossed by stepping stones. But more to
be preferred and not necessarily costly is the creation of water
effects by artificial means. Water must never be dead; that is, it must
have an outlet and an inlet visible.

In regular Japanese gardens the open spaces, those unoccupied by trees,
water etc., are rarely covered with turf. Sand that is kept damp and
raked in patterns takes the place of turf. To protect this from
footmarks, stepping-stones are placed at crossing places. These must
never be regular in shape or placed at regular intervals, for this
would not be copying nature. Various flat shapes and sizes, as would
happen if chance put them in their places, are always used. Turf is,
however, often used in American adaptation of the Japanese garden.

Trees assume great importance in the Japanese system, but they are
seldom planted in groups, except where the group itself is considered a
unit. Each tree is taken by itself. Full-sized trees may be used in
large gardens, but dwarf trees trained to picturesque individuality are
needed for the smaller scale.

There is usually a main tree, which occupies the center of the
landscape. Symmetrical development is not the measure of perfection for
a tree in Japanese eyes. Typical qualities are desired and a perfect
Japanese tree would be called picturesque by Occidental taste. An
absolutely characteristic specimen is the type required. Conifers or
evergreen trees are favorites, with pines at the head of the list and
dwarf varieties most used. Pine, retinospora, umbrella pines, cedars,
California oaks, and the many special Japanese varieties of trees and
shrubs offer a large list to choose from.

Ferns are also largely used, and flowers, after the Japanese method of
arrangement. Single specimens are grown rather than beds of flowers.
Flowers distinctly Japanese in association should be chosen such as
iris and chrysanthemums.

Like the Italian garden, the Japanese has certain architectural
features which are important, if not indispensable. They are quaint
wooden bridges, stepping stones, stone lanterns, stone or bronze deer,
lions, and cranes. Each of these has special significance. Stone lamps
are set up at various times as thank offerings for the recovery from
sickness of members of the family. The statues are for good luck or to
ward off evil, as is the Devil’s Shrine, found always at the
northeastern corner of the garden.

Rocks and stones of various shapes and sizes are always set about in
irregular positions in the Japanese garden. Aside from their value in
setting off the vegetation and providing variety of outline they also
have sentimental interest. Many are brought from distant spots of
sacred or historical interest, while others are placed in the garden
for special purposes. Each stone has a name denoting its office. The
Guardian Stone, Stone of Two Deities, and the Stone of Worship must
have a place in every garden; while others, the View Stone, Idling
Stone, Waiting Stone and Seat-of-Honor Stone tell by their quaint names
the reason for their position and presence.

A tea house or pagoda in Japanese style is always a pleasant addition.
These architectural details must be bought or made by the maker of a
Japanese garden. The stepping-stones and other rocks usually may be had
without difficulty, and for nothing. Roughness and individuality of
shape should be sought in the different stones. Bridges can be made by
the home carpenter. The stone lanterns may be bought a large Japanese
shops. At the best shop of this kind in New York, real stone lanterns
imported from Japan cost from twenty-five to one hundred and fifty
dollars. Copies of recognized types in concrete could be made to order
for much cheaper.

Stone lions carved would cost about seventy-five dollars, while bronzed
figures are more costly, a pair of bronzed cranes being listed at one
hundred and thirty-five dollars.