Sakuteiki: Visions of the Japanese Garden

Rating:
Summary: Once in a millenium...
Review: The editorial comments on this book can hardly do it justice.
Not only does this book give you a clear, up-to-date translation of probably the earliest practical garden handbook, a treasure in itself, where those instructions remain relevant to gardening generally and japanese gardening in particular today - you get the result of an extraordinary cooperation between east and west, namely the attention, erudition and dedication of these two thoughtful and careful authors. In addition, you get almost 150 pages of a detailed, yet clearly comprehensible, well illustrated and very readable introduction to japanese gardens, their influences and the sakuteiki itself. If you have ever felt the coffee table japanese garden books are too vague and the academic books too turgid this book majestically spans and outshines both genre - Buy it!

Rating:
Summary: Serenity distilled
Review: The original blueprint to create a Japanese garden filled with empty spaces, quiet, calm and tranquillity. I enjoy simply reading and rereading the detailed instructions which send my mind travelling along paths of gardens I've yet to see or create. Happy gardening.