Japanese Gardening in Small Spaces

This book should really be called Japanese Tatami Gardening, because that's what it's actually about. This book focuses on small courtyard gardens - which are one of the five principal Japanese garden design types. This is really a very good book to own if you need clear guidance - especially on decorative knot-typing. It has excellent information on materials (stones, bamboo, wood, etc.), the philosophy and symbolism of major Japanese garden elements, plants, and the importance of stones in a Japanese Garden. However, it has one fairly major problem. While containing a good series of how-to projects - this book is clearly written for folks who have easy access to the materials described in the book.Many of the projects require access to materials that are not readily accessible in many parts of the world. For example, the Kinkakuji-Gaki (bamboo fence) project calls for a "scorched log," three different diameters of bamboo, and black hemp rope. I can scorch a log, and probably source black hemp rope, but nearly 3" diameter *green* Bamboo is not very common here in the United States A later project calls for very specific types of bamboo and use of a specialized bamboo-working tool. Again,not something your average reader can find at the local garden shop ('though more and more of these tools are showing up on Amazon these days).Another complaint is that only the first 36 pages are in color. The remaining 80 or so are panchromatic prints on a different type of paper. Not a big issue, but a bit disappointing when it comes to landscapes and photos of finished work.I highly recommend this book for creating Courtyard Gardens, it goes way beyond the basics found some of the general-audience books. It's good to own, but I wouldn't recommend it as your first book for creating a Japanese garden. For your first, I'd recommend Ortho's All-About creating Japanese gardens (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F7AXM2/). There are a number of others on Amazon as well.After a few years of owning this book, I've decided that it really merits a 5-star rating (I originally rated it a 3). There's nothing inherently wrong with it - aside from being a in-depth quality book that was originally aimed at a Japanese audience. After looking at many of the other sources out there, I realized that no English-language books on Japanese gardening provide anywhere near the depth and quality of information in this book. This may well be a translation of Japanese book. If so, I wish that other volumes like these would become available.

Really pleased with how thorough this book is.

Well this book is just a bunch of diagrams on how to build or what to buy. The author mentions that people use inappropriate design elements for certain spaces but doesn’t say why. There is no discussion of the history or the theories behind why some things should be placed a certain way. But the section on fencing is pretty cool

The book has good information on Japanese Gardening design -- and how-to ideas for creating your own Japanese garden. I especially appreciated the inspirational photos -- and how to create a restful garden in a small space.

This arrived on time and is as described. This was a used hardback book with the cover intact. It's about 1/3 color and the rest black and white. It contains lots of diagrams and interesting info. I would recommend it if you're looking for ideas for creating a Japanese garden of any size. I would order from this seller again.

Well written. Very helpful in the design of my Garden

The used book was in nearly new condittmaking it a great bargt

What I needed to know in a nonsense how-to book. A good starter book to build a library about Japanese gardening around.

Alles gut gelaufen, Danke!

Superb title , well written and in excellent conditionWonderfully informative

Parfait, bien emballé, bien arrivé.Merci

Really detailed - introduction and some good projects

Whilst this book has provided several useful snippets of information and I have enjoyed reading it, it is more for those wishing to extend their practical knowledge of the Japanese garden rather than one to buy as your first book. A large proportion is taken up with whole-page line drawings that annotate much smaller photographs earlier in the book and detailed descriptions of construction techniques for those who don't really know where to start. Personally, I'd have liked far more photographs of small gardens, as I bought it to help me make more out of my own, having exhausted all the other books I already own. The line drawings don't need to be so big: and they don't really make it easier to build what you see.However, the details of the history of many elements in Japanese gardens, the explanations of good practice and the step-by-step guides to most of the construction techniques you will need to know make it worth the money. So do the instructions for the yotsume-gaki knot that I completely failed to follow in drawing form in " A Japanese Touch for Your Garden ": presented in colour photographs, with the right side of the twine coloured red, I couldn't fail to get it right!I'd recommend that you buy this one once you have decided what you want to do and need to know how to do it. Consider " All About Creating Japanese Gardens (Ortho's All about) " or "A Japanese Touch ..." first. A Japanese Touch for Your GardenAll About Creating Japanese Gardens (Ortho's All about)