Components of a Japanese Zen Garden

"To every natural form, rock, fruit, or flower, even the loose stones that cover the pathway, I gave a moral life, I saw them feel, and all that I beheld respired with inward meaning." -William Wordsworth

There are several specific components that are very important in Japanese Gardens. The Japanese developed a kind of gardening shorthand that enabled them to reproduce aspects of the natural world on a smaller scale in the most efficient way possible. This shorthand has enabled them to simplify nature and to pick out the most important details. This section outlines eight of the most important components of a Japanese Landscape Garden.