Zen in Your Garden: Creating Sacred Spaces by Jenny Hendy

Product Details

Synopsis

The Japanese Zen garden is a triumph of simplicity, a space in which balance is emphasized to create a place of stillness and sanctuary.

Zen in Your Garden offers readers a comprehensive and practical guide to creating a sacred space for meditation and contemplation. Learn how your garden can stimulate your senses to either energize or soothe you, and discover what type of garden you need, as well as how to convert your existing garden to one designed on Zen principles. Boxed features, illustrated with detailed drawings, show you how to build specific features such as gravel and rock landscapes.

Zen in Your Garden includes beautiful photographs of outstanding gardens from around the world to help you consider the various styles you might wish to work on—rock and gravel; water gardens; shade, moss, and woodland; courtyards; and nature and wildlife gardens. Planting is explored in detail so that you may choose a landscape that has something for all seasons and creates a pleasing form and balance. This book beautifully illustrates and clearly details the many elements of gardening from a Zen perspective and offers you both the creative inspiration and the practical guidance to develop your own.

Contents: Introduction; Zen gardens: a modern interpretation; Water gardens; Nature and wildlife gardens; Planting guidelines; Zen in a small place

Biography

Jiro Takei, professor emeritus of the Kyoto College of Art, taught a course on the Sakuteiki for many years. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has been deeply involved in the study of Japanese gardens, as the Chairman of the Japanese Garden Academic Society (Nihon Teien Gakkai), regional chief of the Gardening Academic Society (Zoen Gakkai), and chief researcher of the Research Center for Japanese Garden Art (Nihon Teien Kenkyu Senta).