Shakkei, also known as borrowed scenery, is a method that incorporates the surrounding view into the garden’s design.
Key techniques for creating depth perception include strategic framing, layered viewpoints, and the use of reflections.
Historical Japanese gardens such as the Entsu-ji Temple Gardens and the Adachi Museum of Art provide examples of Shakkei.
What is Shakkei and where did it come from?
Shakkei is a term that has its roots in the ancient traditions of East Asia. It represents a concept that might revolutionize your perception of gardening. The idea is to ‘borrow’ elements from the environment around you to augment the aesthetics of your garden. This doesn’t mean physically taking something, but rather, it involves expanding your vision beyond the limits of your garden.
Shakkei has been a fundamental aspect of Japanese garden design for centuries, tracing its origins back to the first imperial gardens.
How Shakkei uses the surrounding landscape in the design of the garden
So, what’s the secret behind Shakkei? It’s all about the viewpoint. When you’re designing your garden, you need to look beyond the garden walls and hedges to see what natural elements could be ‘borrowed’ to make your garden seem larger. It might be a far-off hill, a line of trees in the distance, gates, or pathways, to naturally guide the eye to the scenery beyond or even the sky itself.
Take, for example, the renowned Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, which ‘borrows’ the magnificence of Mt. Shiun, giving the illusion that the mountain is part of the garden’s own design.
“Hiengan view west, Ritsurin Park …” from www.flickr.com and used with no modifications.
Shakkei principles in garden design
|
Principle |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Strategic Framing |
The art of using garden elements to highlight distant landscapes. This involves positioning elements such as trees, gates, or pathways within the garden to guide the eye to the scenery beyond, much like framing a masterpiece within a canvas. |
|
Building Perspectives |
Focused on creating depth by synchronizing the placement of plants and structures across the foreground, middle ground, and background. This method aligns garden elements with distant scenery, similar to setting a stage where every component is strategically placed to enhance the overall scene. |
|
Reflections |
Utilizing water features to mirror the borrowed scenery, thereby amplifying its beauty and creating a serene atmosphere. Strategic placement of ponds or streams can reflect key elements like cherry blossoms, making the garden appear more abundant and vast. |
How to Apply These Techniques in Your Garden
Look at your garden from different angles to find any potential borrowed scenery.
Use plants to frame views and direct the eye towards the landscape you want to emphasize.
Think about the full-grown size of plants to make sure they’ll blend well with the borrowed landscape as they grow.
Add features like rocks, water, and paths to steer and focus the viewer’s attention.
Design Complexity: The importance of meticulous planning and comprehension of visual elements
Shakkei is not a technique that can be executed on a whim. It necessitates a well-thought-out design, a knowledge of how your garden’s elements will develop and evolve over time, and how they will interact with the surrounding environment. This complexity implies that successful Shakkei frequently necessitates a significant amount of planning and foresight.
Instances of Borrowed Scenery
Now that we’ve delved into the intricacies of Shakkei, let’s examine some actual examples that wonderfully demonstrate this technique in action. These gardens are proof of the lasting appeal of borrowed scenery and its ability to metamorphose a space.
Entsu-ji Temple Gardens, Kyoto: Incorporating Mount Hiei
“Entsu-ji – The Shakkei Garden Borrowing …” from www.kanpai-japan.com and used with no modifications.
The gardens of Entsu-ji Temple offer a perfect illustration of Shakkei. The grand Mount Hiei is ideally positioned within the garden of the temple, forming a tranquil and thoughtful scene. The mountain appears to emerge from the garden itself, demonstrating how Shakkei can create a flawless blend of human-made and natural splendor.
Shugaku-in Imperial Villa, Kyoto: Incorporating the surrounding hills
“Shugaku-in – The Imperial Villa in the …” from www.kanpai-japan.com and used with no modifications.
The Shugaku-in Imperial Villa is designed to incorporate the surrounding hills. The garden’s creators have cleverly used the natural slopes to extend the viewer’s experience beyond the immediate surroundings. This gives the garden a sense of vastness and grandeur that is both humbling and inspiring.
Yasugi’s Adachi Museum of Art: A harmonious blend with the mountains
“Adachi Museum of Arts, Home to Japan’s …” from japan-forward.com and used with no modifications.
The Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi features a Shakkei garden where the mountains in the distance are incorporated so flawlessly that they seem to be part of the meticulously designed landscape. The garden and the mountains enhance each other, creating a harmonious combination that is recognized as one of the most stunning gardens in Japan.
Wrapping It Up
As a final point, Shakkei is not just a method of gardening, but a philosophy that encourages us to look beyond our own borders, to appreciate and include the beauty that is all around us. Through the use of intentional framing, layering of viewpoints, and reflections, we can design gardens that not only show off our own creative skills, but also honor the natural world.
Whether you’re an experienced gardener or just starting out, consider how you might ‘borrow’ from the landscapes around you to enrich your garden’s design. With careful planning and a bit of imagination, you can create a space that transcends the ordinary and becomes a true sanctuary for both the body and the mind.
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