Japanese Garden at Tatton Park

[Becky]

I posted some photos earlier this year about a walk around Tatton Park - well yesterday we did a tour of the Japanese Garden, and I thought you guys and gals would be interested!

You can read a bit about the gardens here: Tatton Park Japanese Garden

You can see that these trees have had their branches manipulated to grow at right angles to the trunk:

The Torii leading to the Shinto Shrine:

The Shinto Shrine:

The waiting area, where guests would be received to be taken into the private area of the garden:

This zig-zag bridge is meant to focus the visitor's mind on being 'in the moment' - ie you have to pay attention to what you are doing or else you'll fall in!

Beautiful view across the koi pond to the Shinto Shrine

Cranes represent long life and good fortune:

It certainly made me far more aware that there is a lot more to Japanese Gardens than meets the eye. I particularly liked the 'hide and reveal' (miegakure) aspect - it made you pay far more attention to what you were seeing as you walked around, and how it changed as things moved in and out of view.

Hope you enjoyed looking!

 

[zigs]

Lovely shots Becky

Like the way the bushes and borders look like moss

 

[Becky]

Thanks zigs! Yeah me too. I like that low-lying shrub in the last photo (bottom right) - it almost looks like a miniature forest

 

[Beth_B]

How beautiful, I love the idea of a mindful garden!
Are those cranes real...? Or sculptures?

 

[zigs]

Reckon they're real sculptures Beth

 

[Beth_B]

Reckon they're real sculptures Beth

 

[Becky]

How beautiful, I love the idea of a mindful garden!
Are those cranes real...? Or sculptures?

Sculptures

It was so beautiful! I'd love to have a Japanese-style garden some day. It would be a lot of hard work though!

 

[Daren]

souper garden Becky & love the Duck week Pond with the cranes plus the shot of the view across the koi pond to the Shinto Shrine

 

[Becky]

Thanks @Daren! The ponds are gorgeous there. Apparently they are in need of funds to put in a water pump to increase the flow rate - it's barely a trickle at the moment. It would help keep the ponds clear, but I think the duckweed actually looks quite beautiful!

 

[amelia88]

Lovely gardens! And I can tell you from living in Japan right now that it does look very authentic!

I think Japanese gardens and the style they have are honestly my favorite type!

 

[Pat]

Beautiful. The waiting area sculpture is something I would want in my garden.