Rock Garden

[RayJordan]

My feeble attempt at doing a "japanese style" rock garden with carved stone lantern in a small mostly wasted nook of our yard. Looks better than it did with traditional landscaping but I am sure not really very Japanese.

[kingkong]

Do you see the ape under your name Ray?....well that is what I look like now.
I like the lantern. Is this a set up for an ambush Ray ?...it wouldn't be my first.

[schildkoi]

Ray, I think it looks great. For an even better Japanese look, you could add some Bonsai...Oops, scratch that...forgot about Martha and her relationship(s) with Bonsai. You could restrict admittace I guess? (ducking for cover)

Steve

[dick benbow]

a lantern such as the one your using is traditionally set along a pathway to practically light the way. I could better comment on what it needs ( I studied two years with Kyoshi Seike) if i could get an overview of the entire space.

From what i can see, I suggest a round stepping stone walk diagonally from the bottom left,
crossing in front of the lantern and continuing on off to the right. at the base of the lantern to the right needs to be a flat rock that the light tender would use to set his lantern down on.

When quests come to view your pond and garden, just before their arrival be sure and water down the rocks for that clean washed look.

a bonsai would look out of place because you would not traditionally display it there. I could envision a sizeabe patch of white and purple japanese iris on the upper right hand side of the photo that the path is leading to and disappears into (intrigueing )

[JasPR]

Very nice Ray! we would have to pay an absolutely fortune for that volume of polished black river stones out here. We can get the flatter colored grey ones quite cheap but not those black polished ones. JR

[MCPS Mike]

Ray, looks nice.
Especially with the color of the fence.
Think about replacing the stack of stones with a single boulder.
I think that distracts from the lantern.

[RayJordan]

This space is very small 11ft X11ft and between the garage and the back of the house with the fence between them to enclose the backyard. We have lived here 35 years and have had it landscaped many times professionally but I never really liked the small area with the various plantings. I have wanted a stone lantern for some time but couldn't decide where to put it. Discovered a place near Dallas called Noble House that had lots of carved granite and stone products and they had this 52 inch Kasuga stone lantern in stock so I loaded it up in my truck ( you wouln't beleive how heavy some of the pieces were) and brought it home on my last trip.

The pile of rocks in the corner were placed to hide a 1" main water line that I use whenever I do major water changes. There are two rain gutters, electral boxes and other distractions on the back of the house and the garage that interfer with the rock garden but all in all I like it better than anything there so far. I wasn't trying for authenic Japanese just a feeling of a Japanese rock garden. I am considering using bamboo fencing to enclose the sides and back to cover up some of the junk in the area better.

[mstrseed]

Well you answered my question about where to get the lantern.................

[MysticKoi]

Yes, it does look nice! I also think the redish colored fence works well.

From what i can see, I suggest a round stepping stone walk diagonally from the bottom left, crossing in front of the lantern and continuing on off to the right.

We installed a Japanese rock garden at out shop. Even bought a book on the subject, but in the end just went for it. However, one thing I do remember reading was that the walkways should add the illusion of depth. Basically, you use a very large stepping stone up close, with progressively smaller stones as you move away. The trick is to fool the eye into seeing more distance than is actually there!

Kind Regards,
Bill