The ideal garden that comes to my mind consists of colorful flowers, leafy plants, trees and shrubs. With the exception of a few shrubs and bushes, Genkyu-en instead consisted of no colorful flowers or leafy plants at all.
Instead, the garden is made up of a large pond, filled with many dull colored koi (Japanese carp), rocks of many sizes, arched bridges and many deciduous trees. It was strange to see this type of garden at first; but, after walking around Genkyu-en, I was able to appreciate its unique beauty.
When I first entered, I noticed at once the various colors of the stones placed at irregular intervals forming a path threading through the entire garden. I found it quite difficult to walk on the stone path; and I was forced to stare at the stones along the way, so I would not lose my balance and fall. I believe this design was purposely implemented so that the walker would have to look at the stones and appreciate the path’s distinct array of colors.
I also observed that there were large stones and deciduous plants placed in certain areas all around the pond. My take on this is that those plants and stones represented something: the plants, possibly different seasons of the year; and the stones, mountains or islands. But I’m not quite positive if they had any meaning at all ...
The outside border of the garden is made up of trees; and the condition of the trees, along with the style of the buildings also contained in the garden space, gave a nice sense of age to Genkyu-en. The trees were wilting and dry, the bark peeling off, and the roots of almost every tree were sprouting out of the ground, forming a rough type of ground cover over the soil. Along with the traditional wooden buildings, the wonderful array of fall colors visible everywhere provided an entrancing scenic beauty to the entire garden.
At first, my impression of Genkyu-en was that it was not your everyday type of garden. The lack of color, flowers, and the large rocks were a strange sight to me; it took me some time to appreciate and understand the beauty of the garden. Its appearance and style was very distinct from any other garden I had ever seen prior to that time.
In the end, what impressed me the most about Genkyu-en was the atmosphere. The arched bridges, the swans, and the pathways around the pond provided for a very aesthetically pleasing experience.
Another view of Genkyu-en
