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Old 08-11-2004, 01:06 AM
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mdvaden mdvaden is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2003
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There are good ideas in every reply in here.

We all know there is no such thing as a "Japanese" Garden in the USA. If anything, it would have to be in Japan.

And Feng Shui - bottom line - is an illusion. There really is no such thing - nobody can really put their finger on an exact definition of it. It's just said to be.

But aside from that - sticking within what many homeowners view as Japanese Gardening, there can be a lot of safety for the landscape professional to install a Jap. garden that displays the "essence" of that idea to the owner.

For example, raked sand and gravel and boulders are very minimal maintenance.

Instead of full-blown "to the letter" Japanese pine tree pruning, carefully maintained topiary "cloud" type pines can be used, in moderation - 1, 2 or 3 - not very tall.

Dwarf hinoki cypress can be "drop" pruned every 5 to 10 years, following leaders back to new leaders - secondary branches.

My observation, is that very few people can afford the Jap. Gardens installed according to the full rules of engagement - it's almost on the line of being a religion.
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