Koto-in moss garden, Kyoto. Photo : Claude Gagné

A Japanese garden is a true architectural creation, designed through an interplay of levels.

Just as in nature, many layers of vegetation exist side by side, interlaced and enhancing one another in eye-pleasing harmony.

Ground covers and grasses. Shrubs. Trees. Sometimes even a distant forest... but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

	A moss garden, like this one in Kyoto, calls for constant maintenance, to prevent damage by squirrels or the unwanted intrusion of wind-blown seeds. Photo : Claude Gagné

Moss is a part of many Japanese gardens. Easy on the eyes, it evens out the contrasts. A gentle carpet, it hugs the ground and emphasizes its slightest curves.

Sometimes it even becomes the main attraction, its swells suggesting a green-hued ocean, in a moss garden-one of the oldest forms of gardens designed for contemplation and attached to Zen temples.

Ferns are also found everywhere in shade gardens.

Ryoan-ji temple, Kyoto. Photo : Claude Gagné

And when the visitor's view is drawn to a pond instead of the ground, to create the emptiness necessary to appreciate nature's fullness, then it is water lilies that spread their leaves in a horizontal green carpet.

Open Windows on Japanese Gardens 1. Opening a window onto a universe 2. A very famous Zen garden 3. Step by step on stepping stones 4. Endless maintenance 5. Key to the project: the choice of stone 6. The birth of a "Japanese" garden in Montréal 7. Wanted: Hardy species 8. The three religions of Japan 9. Three gardens, three relationships between man and Nature 10. Shakkei or borrowed scenery 11. Living symbols 12. 3, 5, 7 13. Of appearance and essence 14. Precious, colourful carp 15. Mineral strength 16. Changing scale 17. The spirit of stone 18. Islands of the Immortals 19. Plants and time 20. Discreet but essential ground covers 21. Shrubs and the art of plant sculpture 22. Trees, venerable above all 23. Water, a moving mirror of life 24. A pond and its fish 25. Islands and bridges 26.Flowing, shimmering water 27. Listen to your Heart 28. Some important dates

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