Karesansui, .... the "dry-landscape" style Japanese gardens

Karesansui, or the "dry-landscape" style Japanese gardens have been in existence for centuries, but it wasn't until the late sixth century with the advent of Zen Buddhism did "dry style" gardens began to evolve. The earlier gardens were created where one could enter and walk around and much larger in scale. Around the eleventh century, Zen priests adopted the "dry landscape" style and began building gardens to serve a different purpose. They were to be used as an aid to create a deeper understanding of the Zen concepts.

Not only was the viewing intended to aid in meditation but the entire creation of the garden was also intended to trigger contemplation. By the late 1200's, the basic principles had been established and up to the present day, they have been refined and extended. The garden created by the Zen priest are called "kansho-niwa" or contemplation garden and termed by many today as "Zen gardens". The term "Zen garden" is often generically used as any Japanese garden that has a dry style element.

Japanese garden, the zen spirit

Whether your creating a full pledged Zen garden or adding an element of dry landscape to your Japanese garden, a successful dry landscape garden is one of the most appealing landscapes to contemplate. The dry landscape style garden may be adapted to any area and offers the ideal solution to evoke the feeling of water or to actually provide drainage for garden runoff.

The two main elements of a zen or a "dry style" garden are rocks to form mountains and sand to form flowing water. The "sand" used in japanese gardens is not beach sand but a crushed granite and comes in varying shades of white gray to beige and approximately 2 mm. in diameter. Avoid using light colored crushed granite in sunny areas for it will produce a blinding glare, but it will brighten up an indoor garden or dark shaded garden. If crushed granite or rocks are not available in your area, the grit fed to turkey and chickens also work great.

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Abacus Zen Crafts
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