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SUISEKI ON A GRAND SCALE: CREATING THE BOULDER ROCK GARDEN by Dianne Huling |
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Suiseki, the Japanese art of stone appreciation, is a term not generally heard among rock gardeners. I encountered the term in a newspaper article some years ago and I was fascinated. Suiseki literally means water stone but is more loosely translated into "beautiful and meaningful stones" or in the West "viewing stones". Stones which represent natural objects are collected in a variety of habitats and are normally displayed on stands called daizas or on trays. Much like other art objects there is a relationship between the stone and the viewer. Collecting such stones began in China about 1,000 years ago and spread to Korea, Japan and then the West. The stones collected are classified by the shape, surface pattern, color and its place of origin. They may be altered by cleaning, cutting, rubbing or add-ing a patina in the form of oils or placing water on them. I know very little about geology, but I do know what I like. I know how to appreciate stones! I have been collecting rocks and stones since I was a small child. |
I was now on a quest to acquire the most interesting of the lot. Some of the boulders have a band of quartz running through them, some have interesting shapes, some have interesting texture or color, and some just seemed to fit together well. I became the director in a comedy of boulder placement. The backhoe is not graceful and to ask it to move a boulder an inch or two is going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Or maybe it was just me who was too picky. We learned quickly that it takes an entire afternoon to place one boulder. At long last the odd lot of boulders assembled quite miraculously into a cohesive unit of new boulder rock garden. We can now appreciate the boulders' intrinsic beauty as in the Japanese tradition of suiseki singularly or in harmony with each other. We managed to place the boulders so that there would be crevices, alcoves, backdrop or other fundamental needs of the plant material. Along with collecting the boulders, I had also been collecting an assortment of plants. Because the boulder gardens are in the shade and dappled shade it was not difficult to gather some nice shade lovers that are more in scale with the boulders. The boulders in the gardens are accesso-rized with some dwarf conifers which tolerate shade. Arisaemas, Thalictrums and a variety of ferns give some height. Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum' cultivars are espe-cially useful in complimenting the boulder colors. I added an Anemone x hybrida 'Richard Ahrens' which has fairly coarse leaves, pink flowers and is taller. In the smaller boulder pockets I'm growing Rhododendron 'Kokinsai', a Satsuki hybrid which is a tiny sport of 'Kinsai' and R. 'Fuki', a Sonoma dwarf hybrid. Hopefully they will bloom in zone 6b or maybe I just have zone envy. These Azaleas weathered last winter just fine. A relative, Pieris japonica 'Little Heath' about 60 cm, is attractive because the leaf margins are silvery white with a pink flush when young. Brunnera 'Jack Frost' brings out the quartz inclusion in the boulder with its silvery appearance. Pinellia cordata 'Yamazaki' taller with patterned leaves and an inflorescence which smells fruity and P. tripartita grow among the boulders. I planted a few Hosta because I don't belong to the Hostile to Hosta Society and Ray loves them. They are H. 'Pandora's Box', 'Kii Hime', 'Saishu Jima', 'Shining Tot' and 'Kifukurin Ko Mame'. Al-though low growing, the flowers will still give some height. All things considered the scale of the boulders seems right with the forest. The hope is that the boulder gardens will mature into a spectacular success. But isn't that whaf every rock gardener hopes for on a large scale or small? Continuing to appreciate stones, our next project will be to locate the stash of rock we brought home from a construction site near my workplace. Some of the larger rocks contain 10cm drill holes all the way through - just right for planting. It was interesting getting the larger rock into the truck without a winch. Who can resist! |
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My siblings,cousins and I used to bang stones to powder on a large rock and put the different colors into bands in a tall narrow jar for paperweights. Whenever I am on a walk I always have my eye out for rocks with character. Who knew? There is The International Stone Appreciation Society and I thought it was just us rock gardeners who cared! Fortunately or unfortunately Ray and I are the recipients of many boulders from the glacier having passed our way. To be more creative than outlining our lawn we decided to build some boulder rock gardens for the shade and dappled shade. Unfortunately for Ray, he is the mover. Fortunately, he has a backhoe. There has been a variety of discussion on the internet on how best to move the larger rocks should one have the desire. |
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