Japanese gardens; fences

I am trying at present to write up my trip to Japan. this is most important for the pots, as publicity, but it is also very useful as a means of further exploring the visit, by re-examination and research.

today I was looking up the correct term for a Japanese garden of raked gravel, the symbolic lake of rippled water (karesansui) and I found a website (http://www.helpfulgardener.com/japanese/2003/design.html) which explains the principles of a Japanese garden.

for instance ;

“Another concept inherent in every Japanese garden is enclosure. As we noted, the garden is to become a microcosm of nature. For the garden to be a true retreat, we must first seal it away from the outside world. Once it is enclosed, we must create a method (and a mindset) to enter and leave our microcosm. Fences and gates are as important to the Japanese garden as lanterns and maples.

As with most things associated with the garden the fence and gates have deep symbolic meaning as well as specific function. We are encouraged to view the garden as a separate world in which we have no worries or concerns. The fence insulates us from the outside world and the gate is the threshold where we both discard our worldly cares and then prepare ourselves to once again face the world.

The fence is also a tool to enhance yet another concept, miegakure, or hide and reveal. Many of the fence styles offer only the merest of visual screens, and will be supplemented with a screen planting, offering just the ghostly hints of the garden behind. Sometimes a designer will cut a small window in a solid wall to present the passerby with a tantalizing glimpse of what lies beyond. You can be certain that you will only see a sliver of what lies beyond. Even if we enter the house to view the garden we may well encounter sode-gaki, or sleeve fences. This is a fence that attaches to an architectural structure, be it a house or another fence, to screen a specific view. To view the garden as a whole one must enter it and become one with the garden. This is the final step in the true appreciation of the garden, to lose oneself in it until time and self have no meaning.”

here is a beautiful fence

from a temple garden in Kyoto.