Creating Japanese Gardens (5418) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Cedric Crocker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

You can have a garden with the sophisticated sense of design and naturalistic look of the Japanese style, using plants and materials available in North America. This book provides practical details for selecting and setting stones and plants, creating water features, and working with special accents to create a Japanese effect in your garden.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Ortho Books; No Additional Listings Printed edition (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897211480
• ISBN-13: 978-0897211482
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #853,602 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Photos & how-to's. Learn how to add a Japanese touch., September 9, 1998

By A Customer

A great "first book" on the subject of Japanese gardening. Nice color photos (but never enough), and the how-to's are easy to understand. A section on various shaped stones and stone placement. I refer back to mine often.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro, February 1, 2006

By	RDR (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All About Creating Japanese Gardens (Ortho's All About Gardening) (Paperback)

I got this book from the library and was pleasantly surprised at the details and useful, practical advice on conceiving and executing a japanese garden. The book contains detailed instructions on how to lay out, build, select plans for, and maintain a Japanese-inspired garden. It talks about rocks, rock gardening, ponds, water plants and fish, paths, stepping stones, gates, and plants and plant selections. I found it really helpful in getting ideas to give to our landscape architect. I would recommend this book for anyone that is going to actually build (rather than just enjoy looking at pictures of) a japanese garden.

36 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kill Your Lawn - Part 4, August 3, 2001

By	Bruce Crocker "agnostictrickster" (Whittier, California United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Creating Japanese Gardens has been a helpful tool in the process of killing my lawn. If you've read my other reviews, you may wonder why a person with a cactus garden would need a book on Japanese gardens? Think hybrid between a Zen garden and a cactus garden. The basic plan for the garden was constructed with the help of this book. Everything I know about Japanese gardens comes from this wonderful little text. Most of the elements of a Japanese garden appear in my front yard, but with heavy substitution of Southwestern icons for Japanese icons. Trade Mexican-style chimneys for Japanese lanterns; trade coyote for Buddha; trade the traditional plants of a cactus garden for the traditional plants of a Japanese garden. The paths use redrock flagstone and the stones in the dry stream and other places in the garden all come from western deserts and mountains. It's been hours and hours of dirty fun. I do have a request-if you buy this wonderful book and intend to put a traditional Japanese garden in your yard with the traditional Japanese elements, please make sure your climate is wet enough to support the garden without excess added water.