Unusual Front Gardens #33: Turning Japanese

 

A Japanese style front garden

My frequent walks into town last year revealed Chippenham has its very own Japanese-style rock garden, sometimes also known as a zen garden. It's been covered with leaves most times I've passed by, but just before Christmas the owner had tidied it up and raked the gravel into the desired lines representing water ripples around the rocks.

I like its simplicity. I wonder if the owner finds it a calming and meditative experience to maintain it.

Comments

  1. Flighty6 January 2021 at 14:40

    I don't like it, and think that the space could be much better utilised. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP9 January 2021 at 17:15

      Yes, this style isn't to everyone's taste Flighty, but to be fair to the owner this is one of the best gardens along the row of terrace houses on the way to town. Most are overgrown with weeds and a few sorry looking shrubs + litter that 'delightful' passers by have thrown away. Many have their extensive collection of household rubbish bins too as they don't have a cut through to the back of their houses to store them out of sight. At least this person is trying - the gravel was raked differently today.

      Delete
  2. Anna6 January 2021 at 20:31

    Well I suppose it's an improvement on the front gardens that are just paved over but I think that it's rather bleak 😔 Still each to their own.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP9 January 2021 at 17:16

      In this instance, most of the rest of the gardens are even bleaker, which makes this one notable on my walk into town :)

      Delete
  3. Diana Studer6 January 2021 at 22:09

    perhaps ... with a little more of shrub or Japanese maple, to soften the starkness? The ripples round the rocks that works well.
    I love the idea of Japanese gardens, but I'm disconcerted by the very NOT Japanese house wall.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP9 January 2021 at 17:17

      I could have cropped the photo so you didn't see that Diana, but it probably would have looked a bit strange!

      Delete

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