Intimately connected with the natural world, Japanese-style gardens composed of everything from evergreens to stones, water, bridges and ornamental elements transport visitors to a place which seems far removed from the pressures of everyday life. Heinz carries all of the elements to create your own Japanese garden described below.
For inspiration, please visit the Fabyan Japanese Garden located south of Geneva on the Fox River, with entrances on both Route 25 and Route 31, just north of Fabyan Parkway. The garden are open from May through mid-October. Please check website for visiting hours at the Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.
Water
For inspiration, please visit the Fabyan Japanese Garden located south of Geneva on the Fox River, with entrances on both Route 25 and Route 31, just north of Fabyan Parkway. The garden are open from May through mid-October. Please check website for visiting hours at the Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.
Water
- Water contributes to the expression of nature and symbolizes renewal, calm, wonder and continuity in the hereafter.
- In a Sansui Japanese garden, that is, one containing elevations, various degrees are provided so that water can circulate.
- Water is found in many forms. It accumulates in the ponds, runs in the streams or tumbles in the cascades.
- Stones are given special attention in Eastern philosophy.
- A symbol of duration and of the omnipresence of the forces of the nature, they anchor the garden to the ground and give it its specific personality.
- Stones create relief, produce hills and valleys giving birth to cascades, streams and ponds.
- With the advent of the tea ceremony, the lantern became a leading element in the layout of a Japanese garden. Originally intended to guide the visitors during nocturnal celebrations, its light was also considered as the light of knowledge clearing away the clouds of ignorance.
- Placed near water it provides an architectural element which contrasts with the natural components of the garden.
- Bridges are privileged sites in a Japanese garden, where one will linger and take in the beauty of the landscape.
- Bridges may be built of wood, bamboo, earth or stone. Whether they are rounded, arc-shaped or in zigzags, they always remain in harmony with the surrounding nature.
- Plants are associated with moving thoughts and the universal forms of life.
- The care given to plants in a Japanese garden is like that given to bonsai trees: living plants are shaped to the exact form needed for the symbolic or graphic effect one desires.
- In spring, the serviceberry is considered a symbol of youth in Japan.
- In spring, it has masses of white flowers.
- In fall, it is remarkable for its gold and scarlet foliage and tiny blue berries.
- Pine trees create a quiet, cozy screen that shields visitors from outside distractions.
- Pine trees are pruned regularly, to keep their shapes in harmony with the surroundings. Some have an airy silhouette with widespread branches, others are dense and compact, while still others lean over as if battered by the wind.
- The Japanese maple is much appreciated for its lacy leaves and magnificent autumn colors, making it a favorite in Japanese garden design.
- The lotus, or "flower of Buddha," is considered a divine and sacred plant. Resting on the placid surface of the pond, it is a perfect aid to contemplation.
- The lotus flower, with its lovely, huge corolla, blooms in summer to offer a fleeting vision of delicate shades of pink and white.
- Unlike the water lily, which floats on the surface, the lotus is supported by a strong stem anchored in the bottom of the pond.
- Irises are important members of the Japanese garden. They flower from late May to mid-July, in soft tones of pink, blue and white.
- The delicacy and graceful bearing of this plant are perfect examples of the quest for simple and refined beauty in Japanese art.
- Shrub peonies originated in China and were introduced to Japan in the 8th century. They flower in late spring.
- In springtime, the Japanese Garden is ablaze with the bright pinks, reds, purples and whites of rhododendron blossoms. These charming flowers, with their delicate petals, symbolize fragile and ephemeral beauty.
- In summer, the flowers give way to the waxy and lustrous foliage of certain cultivars. The use of compact specimens makes it possible to create varying heights and depths, and the illusion of a miniature mountainous and wooded landscape.
- In Japan, azaleas and their more delicate foliage are preferred to rhododendrons, since they are more tolerant of pruning.
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