With their superbly shaped trees and shrubs, subtly colored foliage, and emphasis on nature in its pure state, Japanese Zen gardens are spaces of beauty and tranquility. Serene Gardens is an exquisitely illustrated introduction to the style and its traditions—and the only book that explains how to use western plants and materials to achieve the minimalist look beloved by Japanese garden designers. Gardeners will find plant lists; climate zone maps; instructions for selecting readily available flora, wood, bamboo, rocks, and pebbles; and gorgeous color photographs showcasing gardens from around the world. 

 

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The author succeeds in creating a book that is first and foremost a beautiful book, but also raises awareness as to the deeper consciousness of Japanese garden design. This is not a Readers Digest Gardening Guide, with silly pictures and numbered steps. Instead she takes you on journey, leading you to discover and to appreciate, as she unfolds the finer art with sensitivity. The book is beautifully illustrated, well designed and well constructed.

Serene Gardens first introduces the reader to the traditional Japanese garden, and then proceeds to demonstrate how plants, rocks, water and sand should be used in the garden. She discusses paths, bridges, and constructions like pergolas en fences - and provides clear instructions on how to construct these. In conclusion, the book ends with a brief plant directory, listing suitable plants, ranging from trees, grasses/bamboos, berries and aquatic plants. The list includes alternative, non-traditional plants.

'Serene Gardens' works on the coffee table as well as in the garden. It is a book that can be enjoyed, as the garden itself is enjoyed.

63 of 67 found the following review helpful:

Exceptional photos, great textSep 02, 2002

I have checked out many books on Japanese gardening in the past ten years and this is my favorite. Includes design details and plant lists and the photos are gorgeous. You won't be sorry.

84 of 104 found the following review helpful:

Not a Real "How-to" Manual, But Good AnywayJun 30, 2009
By J. Storey
. There basically seems to be two types of Japanese-gardening books that are commonly available to English-speaking folks. The first type is your typical coffee-table book, usually large in size with many nice full-color photographs and not a lot of text. Whatever text is included is usually breezy and not intended to be any deep discussion of principles or techniques. The main purpose of these types of books is clearly enjoyment; everyone fascinated with Japanese gardens always enjoys wading through a large picture-book of (famous) Japanese gardens...their tranquility and appeal comes across especially well in a large-size photo format. The famous gardens in Japan are truly visually staggering, and a wide-angle large pic from a professional Japanese photographer does more justice to the entire scope of a setting than a mere quarter-page photo, of course. However, regardless of size, most Western books on Japanese gardens, unwittingly or not, tend to fall into this category of being little more than "picture books"...the actual amount of detailed "how-to" material is very small, or worse, actually misleading. While these (English-language) picture books are enjoyable to peruse, they are of limited help to the gardener who wants more detailed "how-to" material.

The second type of English-language Japanese garden book attempts to present more of the history, culture, philosophies, and perhaps even techniques of Japanese gardening. While nice pictures are also usually common in this format, the emphasis is perhaps more on instruction and practical tips. Yoko Kawaguchi here (I'll use Western first-name-first custom here) has written an excellent book in this latter cagegory, a book that tries to educate the reader on some of the aesthetics behind Japanese gardening, including suggestions for specific plants for various "styles" of gardens. The pictures in the book are especially nice, probably securing a place for this book on the list of most folks' Japanese-gardening favorites... And that brings up a curious point. I assume most anyone reading this already has pretty much every English book on Japanese gardening already, and you're probably still puzzled by what to do with your own plot of land. Which, alas, doesn't seem to look nearly as nice as the pics you see, inevitably...

Why the usual disparity between one's own garden and the beautiful pics one tries so hard to emulate? Well, there are several good reasons, one being that there still isn't- in English- an adequate, rigorous textbook on Japanese pruning techniques. Japanese pruning technique is the heart and soul of Japanese gardening (along with skills in rock placement, which is also part keen observation and part long experience). Ms. Kawaguchi's book, make no mistake, is NOT a "how-to" book at this level of detail, sorry folks. As much as books like hers attempt to educate readers on picking appropriate plants and so on, that is only a small part of skills needed to duplicate the Japanese style. The basic problem here, alas, is that skills such as cloud-pruning need to be taught "hands-on"- no book can really substitute. That is why it is always a good suggestion for folks to learn some bonsai techniques from a local teacher. Wait just a minute- I can already hear the protests from Japanese gardeners telling me that bonsai is NOT the same as Japanese gardening. Complaints noted. But partially ignored here :-). While I grant that bonsai is NOT Japanese gardening, and techniques like wiring branches really aren't appropriate for larger specimens, per se, nonetheless the fact remains...NO OTHER skill-set comes close to bonsai pruning for matching the pruning skills you'll need for Japanese gardening. It's that simple. So, all you folks lamenting the lack of good books on pruning or lack of a suitable instructor in your area, go find a local bonsai club and get involved. Most of the members of these clubs are closely involved trimming the trees and shrubs in your local botanic Japanese gardens anyway (usually as volunteers who do not get paid much or at all, it is a labor of love), so you might as well get on board in your local botanical garden (if circumstances allow) and learn to trim from those who have experience in this manner of pruning.

Of course, Japanese gardening is much more than just pruning. One of the main crucial elements is appropriate rock arranging, and this also takes experience and keen observation of how the pros arrange rocks to look natural. Not to mention a lot of trial-and-error :-). How do the pros do it? Many of them have had special training, either formally in Japan or through a long line of family members skilled at such techniques. Or they learned from traditional teachers. You and I, however, may not be so lucky. So how can we begin? Perhaps the best way, if you want to, say, emulate a stream or a pond arrangment, is to sharpen your observation of how Mother Nature does it. Nature is always our best teacher. Take some long hikes in the mountains, or walk along a winding river-bed and really observe. The better your observational skills of natural settings, the better you'll get at imitating what Mother Nature does.

Fortunately, there is some written help along the way. There have been some welcome recent books specifically on Japanese pruning, such as Jake Hobson's "Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Japanese Garden Trees". While not a fully-adequate primer on Japanese pruning, it certainly is a good place to begin learning how to prune. We can only hope more books specifically on Japanese pruning, from experts, will make themselves available in English in the future. Meanwhile, one should check out the on-going series of pruning articles in the Journal of Japanese Gardening (now called "Sukiya Living Magazine"). Although the publisher of JOJG (Douglas Roth) has had some personal run-ins and controversial relationships with individuals in the industry per anecdotal reports, the instructional material in the magazine is of high quality and can be relied on. There just aren't many places elsewhere where the average person can learn this specialized pruning material, let's face it. If one thinks one can "wing it" on one's own, it ain't gonna happen.

Rock arranging, of course, is also difficult to learn from books. There aren't many good books out on a specficially Japanese style of rock arranging, either. One that IS excellent is David Engel's "A Thousand Mountains, A Million Hills: Creating the Rock Work of Japanese Gardens". Engel needs no introduction to Japanese garden fans, of course, he is a pioneer in introducing Japanese gardens to Westerners and all his books are wonderful. One need only observe pics of his garden work to realize here is a man who knows what he is doing with rocks. Visiting fine gardens in the States, such as Portland or Anderson Gardens in Illinois, is also very helpful. Both of these famous gardens have fine rock-work that will repay close study. Of course, Japan is always the heartland; if one can visit traditional gardens in Kyoto and elsewhere, all the better. There are many visually-inspiring books from Japan on small gardens that are also helpful, such as the 4-volume "Garden Views" series (by Tatsui Teien Kenkyujo). Any book on Japanese courtyard gardens (tsubo-niwa) is good for giving ideas for small backyard gardens.

There is much more to be said regarding the culture and aesthetics of Japanese gardening, which is a very broad subject. Perhaps the best English-language book, from a Westerner who lives in Kyoto and truly understands the aesthetics on an intimate basis, is Marc Peter Keane's "Japanese Garden Design". This book is a must for all English-speaking Japanese garden fans interested in an authentic look at the history, philosophy and aesthetics that make Japanese gardens unique among world gardens.

Well, reader, let's sum up this rather disjointed review. Try reading some of these books, get some practical bonsai pruning experience on a few small pines you don't mind butchering :-), learn other pruning techniques for shrubs, weeping trees and so on, go observe how Mother Nature arranges rocks and water features, and go to it! What are you waiting around here for, reading Amazon reviews? Happy gardening.

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:

Helpful ideasDec 06, 2008
By R. Gonzalez "creative gift giver"
In trying to find inspiration for a japanese-style garden, this book is incredible. It has varied ideas and helpful hints. It has the most information on moss than others I've used.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

Eureka!Feb 24, 2011
By Robert Hills
Garden design, especially Japanese garden design is daunting for even the practiced american gardener. Never mind the cultural barriers and relative inaccessibility of good local examples. A greater barrier is that we tend to think in terms of a quarter acre, or even ten acres. Designing a few hundred square feet--that is a real challenge for most of us unless it is a raised bed or free form mixed border. To landscape a courtyard or a constrained walkway near the house in a comprehensive and self-sufficient manner is beyond almost all of us.
What we need is a book which edits out the impossible ("This five hundred year old imperial garden...") and the impractical ("Using tweezers to weed the moss...") in favor of the "essence" of a japanese garden.
This book is almost uncanny in its choice of photos and illustrations. Each presents a garden or an element of design that causes the reader to have a Eureka moment. "Yes, that's it! I can adapt that.... I can incorporate that...." Or even "No, I really don't like that aesthetic and shouldn't even think about it as a possibility."
As noted by other reviewers it is not a how to book. It is not really a picture book. It is a collection of photos and illustrations of realistic possibilities for anyone daring to design their own "serene garden." The text is also enlightening and enjoyable, reinforcing the objectives of good japanese garden design.
Overall the book reminds me of some of the best of the "Sunset" booklets of previous decades, albeit it is far better and more sophisticated.

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