Japanese Gardening in Small Spaces Hardcover – September 15, 1996

This book should really be called Japanese Tatami Gardening, because that's what it's actually about. This book focuses on small courtyard gardens - which are one of the five principal Japanese garden design types. This is really a very good book to own if you need clear guidance - especially on decorative knot-typing. It has excellent information on materials (stones, bamboo, wood, etc.), the philosophy and symbolism of major Japanese garden elements, plants, and the importance of stones in a Japanese Garden. However, it has one fairly major problem. While containing a good series of how-to projects - this book is clearly written for folks who have easy access to the materials described in the book.Many of the projects require access to materials that are not readily accessible in many parts of the world. For example, the Kinkakuji-Gaki (bamboo fence) project calls for a "scorched log," three different diameters of bamboo, and black hemp rope. I can scorch a log, and probably source black hemp rope, but nearly 3" diameter *green* Bamboo is not very common here in the United States A later project calls for very specific types of bamboo and use of a specialized bamboo-working tool. Again,not something your average reader can find at the local garden shop ('though more and more of these tools are showing up on Amazon these days).Another complaint is that only the first 36 pages are in color. The remaining 80 or so are panchromatic prints on a different type of paper. Not a big issue, but a bit disappointing when it comes to landscapes and photos of finished work.I highly recommend this book for creating Courtyard Gardens, it goes way beyond the basics found some of the general-audience books. It's good to own, but I wouldn't recommend it as your first book for creating a Japanese garden. For your first, I'd recommend Ortho's All-About creating Japanese gardens (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F7AXM2/). There are a number of others on Amazon as well.After a few years of owning this book, I've decided that it really merits a 5-star rating (I originally rated it a 3). There's nothing inherently wrong with it - aside from being a in-depth quality book that was originally aimed at a Japanese audience. After looking at many of the other sources out there, I realized that no English-language books on Japanese gardening provide anywhere near the depth and quality of information in this book. This may well be a translation of Japanese book. If so, I wish that other volumes like these would become available.

Really pleased with how thorough this book is.

This arrived on time and is as described. This was a used hardback book with the cover intact. It's about 1/3 color and the rest black and white. It contains lots of diagrams and interesting info. I would recommend it if you're looking for ideas for creating a Japanese garden of any size. I would order from this seller again.

The book has good information on Japanese Gardening design -- and how-to ideas for creating your own Japanese garden. I especially appreciated the inspirational photos -- and how to create a restful garden in a small space.

This was a great starter book for anybody who is interested in Japanese yard design, I just wish there was more step by step information and list of items to purchase. I don't regret the purchase but I def could of been more

The used book was in nearly new condittmaking it a great bargt

Well written. Very helpful in the design of my Garden

What I needed to know in a nonsense how-to book. A good starter book to build a library about Japanese gardening around.