A Japanese rock garden, known as Karesansui or “dry landscape,” is a highly stylized outdoor space that uses minimalist elements to represent nature. The garden distills vast natural scenes, such as mountains and oceans, into arrangements of rocks, gravel, and sand. Instead of relying on lush foliage or actual water, the design focuses on abstract symbolism, where rocks represent islands or mountains and raked gravel symbolizes flowing water or the ocean. This dry garden style is a physical manifestation of Zen philosophy, serving as a tranquil space for meditation and introspection.
Designing the Space and Preparing the Site
Thoughtful preparation begins with selecting the correct location for the garden. A karesansui is traditionally meant to be viewed from a single, fixed perspective, such as a porch or a specific window, rather than being walked through. The size of the space is not as important as its flatness, which is necessary for creating the smooth plane of gravel that represents water. Consideration for the surrounding environment is also important, as designers often incorporate distant features like trees or hills into the composition using a technique called shakkei, or “borrowed scenery”.
Once the area is selected, the boundaries must be defined, often using natural edging materials like wood planks or stone curbing to contain the gravel. Proper ground preparation is necessary to prevent future maintenance issues, involving clearing the site of all existing grass, weeds, and debris. A level, compacted base is then established to ensure the gravel layer remains stable. Adequate drainage is also a practical consideration, often addressed by incorporating a layer of crushed stone beneath the main gravel surface to prevent water pooling after rainfall.
Selecting and Sourcing Materials
The materials chosen for a rock garden are highly symbolic, selected for their texture, color, and ability to hold raked patterns. Rocks, the “bones of the garden,” should be chosen for their natural, weathered appearance, with asymmetrical shapes preferred over smooth or polished stones. These boulders represent fixed elements like islands, mountains, or waterfalls, and they are frequently composed of durable materials such as granite, basalt, or fieldstones.
The expansive surface material, often mistakenly called sand, is actually fine gravel or crushed stone. True sand is too fine to consistently hold the precise patterns, while crushed granite or specialized gravel, like the traditional gray-white Shirakawa-suna, provides the necessary angularity for lasting rake marks. Particle size for this material is ideally between 2mm and 6mm, as anything larger becomes difficult to rake smoothly. Minimal plantings are used, typically consisting of moss to symbolize age or small, contained shrubs that represent forest masses.
Construction and Rock Placement Principles
Construction begins with laying a heavy-duty weed barrier fabric across the prepared area, which prevents organic material from growing up into the gravel. The chosen edging material is then secured around the perimeter to hold the gravel layer firmly in place. The base layer of crushed stone or gravel is then spread evenly, typically to a depth of two to three inches, creating a smooth canvas for the subsequent design elements.
The aesthetic principles of rock placement are guided by ancient rules rooted in the Sakuteiki, an 11th-century garden manual. Rocks are almost always arranged in odd-numbered groupings—most commonly three, five, or seven stones—to create a sense of natural asymmetry and visual tension. The most common arrangement is the three-stone grouping, or Sanzon-ishigumi, featuring one tall, dominant stone accompanied by two smaller supporting rocks.
To achieve a naturalistic appearance, rocks should be partially buried into the ground, making them look as if they have existed in the location for centuries. The arrangement should be viewed from the primary vantage point, ensuring that the rocks are positioned to face the viewer and create a cohesive composition. Once the stones are securely placed, the final layer of fine gravel is added, and the meditative process of raking can begin. Raking patterns represent water features, such as parallel straight lines symbolizing waves or concentric circles raked around the base of a rock to represent water ripples.
Maintaining the Serenity
Maintenance of a dry landscape garden is primarily focused on preserving the symbolic aesthetic and involves two consistent tasks. The most visible is the routine raking of the gravel surface, performed to restore the symbolic water patterns disturbed by weather, debris, or foot traffic. Raking is often done weekly, ideally when the gravel is dry, using a specialized rake with wide-set teeth to create deep, defined lines.
Weed control is the second necessary task, though the presence of the weed barrier simplifies the process. Any sparse weeds that manage to grow should be removed promptly by hand to preserve the garden’s minimal and uncluttered appearance. After heavy rain or severe weather, the edges and the overall shape of the gravel layer should be inspected and repaired to prevent material from shifting or spreading outside the defined boundary.