Japanese garden design often features water as an
integral part of the overall design. In general, garden
features are used to represent something larger in nature. So
water of various sizes generally represents or tells a story about
something in the larger world. Rocks portray mountains.
Small ponds signify lakes and larger ponds indicate oceans.
Japanese garden design is about telling a story in a small space.
Here's a short video featuring the way water is used in the Anderson
Japanese Garden in Rockford, Illinois. This is a large
public garden and well worth a visit.
