Gardens of the World : GYOEN NATIONAL GARDEN, Kyoto, Japan

There’s two Gyoen National Gardens in Japan – one is located in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, and the other in Kyoto. This article relates to the latter.

The area covered by this garden used to be the residential area occupied by the court nobles during the Edo Period (1603-1867), when Kyoto was the capital of Japan. When Kyoto lost this function to Tokyo, many government buildings were removed and the national garden was created to preserve the Imperial Palace. After WWII, the garden was upgraded to a National Garden.

Many features typical of a Japanese garden can be found here, for example a pond and a tea house. Incidentally, Japanese garden designers got their inspiration from the Chinese and then adapted the layouts to their own environment and concepts of natural beauty.

Here are a few photos of this beautiful garden below. As for any garden, the landscape changes with the seasons. It was March when those photos were taken, so there are few plants in full bloom. However it is easier, at that time of the year, to appreciate other more permanent aspects of the vegetation and of the landscape.

(Interestingly, most gardens I visited in Japan had bilingual labels - Japanese and English, including the latin name. Very convenient for identification!)

First the pond: a massive one-piece stone is used as a bridge over a stream going to the pond. Although access to the bridge was closed it was possible to walk around part of the pond. In the background is the tea house.

 

Although this horizontal vine on a treillis above part of the pond near the tea house was not labeled, I suspect it is a Japanese wisteria. Wisterias can be pruned and trained to grow horizontally (as below) instead of vertically to the top of trees. It is thus easier to have a better view of their gorgeous blooms.

 

 

This outcropping rock in the middle of the pond (below) was a convenient place for turtles to bask in the spring sun.

 

 

 

The tea house: tea houses can be quite an attraction by themselves in a Japanese garden. The vegetation growing around them is chosen to maximize peacefulness while enjoying one's tea in good company. The views of the garden from the inside of the tea house are also carefully planned to optimize the whole experience. This tea house is quite large (it was built for the nobility) and has two floors.

 

 

Here is the garden view one would get from the window below:

 

 

 

Some remarkable trees: the first tree below is a cherry tree (very precious to the Japanese, as the cherry blossom is their national flower). But this one must be very special. It looks like a very old tree that somehow fell to the ground, as we can see its stump covered by grass in the foreground. The interesting part is that from the trunk on the ground, in different places, are new shoots emerging as a whole group of new cherry trees, full of buds soon ready to open.

 



 

By clicking on the plaque photo below, the 'baby' cherry trees sprouting from the old trunk can be seen in full bloom on the lower photo.

 

Here are more examples of the great care the Japanese are taking for some of the trees that are of significance to them:

 

 

What would we do in Canada with horizontal branches growing towards the garden walkway - would we not merely chop them off before they get that big? Not so for Japanese landscapers : they just let them grow where they are and where they want to go. They give them a chance and simply support them (photos above). Here's a detailed view of one of those strong supporting ties:

 

 

Although (in my humble opinion) this particular one appears a little overdue for a loosening of its grip lest it will do more harm than good by choking the limb it's supposed to protect. That one is an exception though - the other ties I've seen (dozens of them) were usually fitting just fine. Just that aspect of garden maintenance - watching for all the ties and re-adjusting them accordingly - must be a daunting task!

And here (below) is a different type of protection - this time from damaging insects:

 

The type of wrapping for insect protection seemed to be of high quality and is tightly adjusted so one would assume it's efficient. Would we really bother here in Canada with all that trouble?

 

 

It might not be apparent at first glance but this photo below actually shows some sort of work of art made from garden waste. Its location is quite strange - on the roof of a small building somewhere in the middle of the garden. Quite unexpected indeed.

 

 

The Gyoen National Garden also has a museum which shows, among other things, traditional garden tools used by Japanese landscapers and some landscaping techniques (next two photos):

 

 

  

Finally, this article would not be complete without at least one image of some flowers. Here it is:

 

Although this shrub was not labeled I suspect it is an enkianthus, which is part of the heath family. I've seen several specimens in various gardens and parks in Japan and their early blooms have a nice fragrance.



 

(article and photos by Denise Motard)