Product Description

More than 600 years ago, the Zen priest-gardeners of Japan developed simple techniques to create visually stimulating outdoor environments that are also oasis of peace and serenity. The Art of Zen Gardens is the first book explaining the history and philosophy behind this Japanese garden art and giving step-by-step instructions for creating your own Zen garden, even in very limited space. This practical volume provides more than 100 line illustrations showing you how to use gravel and stones to suggest the ripples and eddies of moving water, build earth mounds that represent mountains, create a small pond to serve as the "heart of the garden", select lanterns to use as focal points, enhance the sounds in a garden - the trickling of water, the clacking of bamboo, the crunch of a gravel path, construct small bridges and waterfalls, develope the illusion of space using paths, rock formations and shrubbery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #418096 in Books
• Published on: 1983-05-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 151 pages

About the Author
ROBERT W. HARRIS has been a freelance writer and designer since 1990. He has written twelve books, including DOS, WordPerfect & Lotus Office Companion and When Good People Write Bad Sentences. His books have been main selections in the Small Computer Book Club and the Book-of-the-Month Club.

Customer Reviews

A descent item by item guide to zen gardens
This brief work gives a great overview of all of the elements that compose a zen garden. Beginning with a simple history of Japanese gardening, the author then procedes to elborate on each component of a garden and the various ways that they may be employed. The book is filled with useful drawings to help the aspiring gardener, however the all-too-few photographs in the book are less then great. A nice section of color photos showing completed gardens would have improved what is already a good work.

good work
The book was used as a guide for a cross-cultural communications class. It was useful and informative.