Example Zen Gardens

( 枯山水 karesansui ) Since the end of the 19th century, Japanese gardens have also been adapted to Western settings. The selection and placement of rocks is an important part of many modern Japanese rock gardens. When creating a “mountain effect” designers use igneous volcanic rocks – rugged mountain rocks with sharp edges. They use smooth sedimentary rocks for the borders of gravel "rivers" or "seashores.“ In Chinese gardens of the Song dynasty, individual rocks that looked like animals – or had other unusual features – were the star attractions of the garden. In Japanese gardens, individual rocks are not stars – the goal is harmony and composition.

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A common arrangement is one or more groups of three rocks. One common triad arrangement has a tall vertical

rock flanked by two smaller rocks. This group represents the Buddha and his two attendants. Alignment of the rocks is also very important to the

design of a Zen garden. When you are sitting on the patio deck of 35 Shore Road – just to the left of the sliding doors – the large rock shown in the bottom picture is perfectly aligned with the large rock at the end of the jetty.