Nobody’s going to deny that rock gardens are one of the great art forms of Japan. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy an exquisitely designed miniature landscape of meticulously raked gravel…
…swirling around a few mindfully placed boulders?
Plus, compared to even your most basic Japanese garden, they’re really low-maintenance. I mean, once you plant a rock, it never needs weeding, feeding or pruning. And unlike every green thing I’ve ever owned, they don’t look terrible if you never water them.
The problem is, it’s harder to make rocks look like a garden than one might think. Because for every rock garden that looks like these lovely pictures from Hasedera, there are way too many of…these
Granted, this view is better than what’s under most overpasses, but somehow, I find this line-up of random rocks doesn’t inspire me to contemplate the divine order of the universe
You know this one is here because someone said, “I’m sick of watering those plants by the entrance – they just die anyway. Let’s put a rock garden here instead!” and then a few execs waved their hands in the air, saying, “Hey, I’ve got a big one in my yard I’ve been dying to get rid of….”
This sad display is the freeway iceplant of rock gardens
And this Rock Garden Planter must have been put here in desperation, after everything else died from being in such a depressing place. Even those hardy succulents are trying to escape
Now this is just lazy. Landscaping Hall of Shame.
I thought long and hard about including this, because it barely qualifies as “intentional,” and yet there’s a certain “if you put a million monkeys in a million rooms and asked them to design a rock garden…” quality to it. Enjoy.
And what happens when you get tired of having an ugly rock garden right outside your door? THIS
I’m sure he knows all too well how hard it actually is to design with rocks! (I’ve been enjoying your many colorful garden excursions recently as well!)
Its not rare to see farm driveway entrances with awful rock installations. They often have access to big rocks and the machinery to move them but no idea how to create a pleasing effect! And when it doesn’t work, they just pile on more rocks 🙂
Yeah, I get that! I feel kind of sorry for farmers who have to plant crops in such rocky ground – they’ve gotta do something with the ones they dig up from the fields! Actually, I just spent a week in Ireland, where it was explained to me that some cemeteries were so rocky they had to build the tombs above ground, because it was too hard to dig graves (hence these tombs with doors in them, and when there was a new eternal resident, they shoved aside the previous tenant aside with a six-foot pole and slotted in the most recently deceased. Giving rise to the saying, “I wouldn’t touch him with a six-foot pole” O_O)
I was hoping for something with Beatles or Rolling Stones in the mix. LOL! These were fun! Now I don’t feel as insecure about what I might intend.
You’re the sweetest to ask! Don’t have a date yet, but after I send the manuscript to my agent (soon! soon!) she’ll take it around to publishers, and we’ll see. 2019, I’m hoping! (But the wheels of publishing grind exceedingly slow, so… arg.)
Thank you, my friend. Which posts grab an audience is always a complete mystery to me. I kind of understand why the ones about host clubs are popular (not much written about them in English) but “How to Walk Across the Rainbow Bridge”? Whaaaat?
There was a small one with the raked gravel in front of a new mansion in our neighborhood right at street level. Pretty, but unfortunately the neighborhood cats thought so too. It disappeared pretty quickly and I bet somebody got a thunk on the head.
On the other hand, I was once at a temple in Kyoto contemplating a particularly nice rock garden and a single Zen snowflake fell. It was truly one of those Only in Japan moments.
Yeah, those temple rock gardens in Kyoto, they DELIVER! Wish I could have been there for that snowflake moment. I’m going to be back in Japan in Jan-Feb and am hoping for a snow day or two, so I can find some white gardens to shoot pictures of. Wish I knew of a rock garden worth its salt in Tokyo, because snow between the raked furrows would be lovely, don’t you think? (Still laughing about the cat litter garden though HA!)
Arg, so sorry I was traveling and missed your kind words! Belated thanks for the encouragement – gonna try to be a more regular poster again from now on!
Only In Japan 
Great post Jonelle! It elicited a few chuckles from my landscape architect husband as well 🙂
I’m sure he knows all too well how hard it actually is to design with rocks! (I’ve been enjoying your many colorful garden excursions recently as well!)
Its not rare to see farm driveway entrances with awful rock installations. They often have access to big rocks and the machinery to move them but no idea how to create a pleasing effect! And when it doesn’t work, they just pile on more rocks 🙂
Yeah, I get that! I feel kind of sorry for farmers who have to plant crops in such rocky ground – they’ve gotta do something with the ones they dig up from the fields! Actually, I just spent a week in Ireland, where it was explained to me that some cemeteries were so rocky they had to build the tombs above ground, because it was too hard to dig graves (hence these tombs with doors in them, and when there was a new eternal resident, they shoved aside the previous tenant aside with a six-foot pole and slotted in the most recently deceased. Giving rise to the saying, “I wouldn’t touch him with a six-foot pole” O_O)
I was hoping for something with Beatles or Rolling Stones in the mix. LOL! These were fun! Now I don’t feel as insecure about what I might intend.
Ahahahaha, you are WAY ahead of me!
I enjoyed it. When is #5 coming out? D🍵🙏🏻❣️
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You’re the sweetest to ask! Don’t have a date yet, but after I send the manuscript to my agent (soon! soon!) she’ll take it around to publishers, and we’ll see. 2019, I’m hoping! (But the wheels of publishing grind exceedingly slow, so… arg.)
One of your best ever, and that’s saying something!
Thank you, my friend. Which posts grab an audience is always a complete mystery to me. I kind of understand why the ones about host clubs are popular (not much written about them in English) but “How to Walk Across the Rainbow Bridge”? Whaaaat?
There was a small one with the raked gravel in front of a new mansion in our neighborhood right at street level. Pretty, but unfortunately the neighborhood cats thought so too. It disappeared pretty quickly and I bet somebody got a thunk on the head.
On the other hand, I was once at a temple in Kyoto contemplating a particularly nice rock garden and a single Zen snowflake fell. It was truly one of those Only in Japan moments.
Yeah, those temple rock gardens in Kyoto, they DELIVER! Wish I could have been there for that snowflake moment. I’m going to be back in Japan in Jan-Feb and am hoping for a snow day or two, so I can find some white gardens to shoot pictures of. Wish I knew of a rock garden worth its salt in Tokyo, because snow between the raked furrows would be lovely, don’t you think? (Still laughing about the cat litter garden though HA!)
Back on form 🙂
Arg, so sorry I was traveling and missed your kind words! Belated thanks for the encouragement – gonna try to be a more regular poster again from now on!