In a Japanese garden and its design principles you will often hear about ‘flow’. A Japanese garden has to be something with a clean and crisp visual appearance and ‘flow’ – this is so everything appears to naturally follow on in the viewers eyes. Think of it as ‘visusal tidiness’.
Edging is used in all sort of gardens all over the world but in a Japanese garden , when placed properly and with the right materials, it can really be highly effective. You could have a borderline between the garden and other parts of your space if you are just utilising a small area. A borderline can also be used to give paths an edge too.
In a Japanese garden you can use all sorts of edging materials. Cast stone, Bamboo, edging stones, slate, brics and even an iron fence.
Slate because of its different shades will provide clean lines in your project when making a Japanese garden. Terracotta is also one of the top edging ingredients used because of its shade of colour. Stone can be used for edging a pond or a smaller building.
In a Japanese garden gravel can be used as either a pathway OR as a border to give a distinguishing line between areas. The use of bricks is becoming more common in Japanese garden design and not as a straight line laid out going one way or another. Bricks can be laid in all sorts of ways to make the garden interesting – so do not be afraid to experiment.
Concrete can be moulded easily for any kind of edging look that you want to achieve. River rock gives a totally natural feel to eding and cast stone is sometimes used as an alternative for natural rock.
Edging with bamboo is a way of creating some intricate edging for the garden. Simply, cut the can of the bamboo to the height that you want and bury in the ground for quick and effective results. Sometimes, metal fencing is added to Japanese gardens as some people feel that its addition adds a certain amount of elegance.
Japanese gardens are famous for their pece and tranquility so remeber the colour and style of the edging that you choose NEEDS to match and follopw the natural flow of the garden. A couple of good tips – a Japanese garden is all about nature, so if you do some edging with rocks don’t make them all the same size because in nature that simply wouldn’t happen. Spread the rocks around in different sizes. The same goes with trees or shrubs – think NATURAL in your design thoughts and you should find that the ideas flow quickly and naturally for your design.
Here are some images of eging in a JApanese garden.
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