Interview with
Gerard Taaffe
Timber Press: You are originally from Ireland, yet you have an extensive knowledge of Japanese gardening. What originally drew you to the topic?
Gerard Taafe: When I was a student gardener in Glasnevin Botanic Gardens, Dublin, I was fascinated by trees and their origins. I always wanted to know where plants come from. Some Japanese trees that I was fond of were the kadsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), with its heart-shaped and claw-like buds, and the Japanese maples such as Acer palmatum with their gorgeous autumn colors. My next-door neighbor had a very fine specimen of Fatsia japonica in her garden. Although not a tree, this evergreen shrub has large attractive palmate leaves. I always dreamed of one day visiting Japan to see some of these trees in their native habitats.
My interest in Japanese plants was rekindled in 1984 when I went to work at the Royal Botanic Gardens under the late Alfred Evans and Ron Macbeth in the herbaceous plants department. In the east valley of the rock garden, I came across numerous Japanese alpines that were brought to Edinburgh by Tadaharu Tsuzuki. Mr. Tsuzuki runs a small nursery in Otaru, Hokkaido. The woodland garden where I spent much of my time also contained some very interesting plants. The plant that really caught my attention in the woodland garden was the late summer flowering Kirengeshoma palmata. After that, I was determined to visit Japan to glimpse the plants I cherished growing in their natural habitat. But I never thought for one moment that I would end up living in Japan!
In May 1986, I had my first chance to go to Japan through an introduction with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. Dr. Naohiro Naruhashi of Toyama National University very kindly brought me to the nearby hills to see woodland plants such as Kerria japonica and Erythronium japonicum growing in their natural habitat.
It was on this three-week visit that I had my very first glimpse of traditional Japanese gardens. Dr. Naruhashi brought me to Kenroku-en in Ishikawa Prefecture. This is one of the three most famous gardens in all of Japan. Two other famous gardens are Kairaku-en in Ibaraki Prefecture and Koraku-en in Okayama Prefecture. Kenroku-en has many beautiful Japanese pines, both red and black (Pinus densiflora and Pinus thunbergii). It was here I saw the Kenroku-en cherry, Prunus serrulata 'Sphearantha'. The double, white flowers have a red center and contain between 100–300 petals each! I also visited some of the famous gardens in Kyoto.
I came to live in Japan in September 1990 with my new wife. In October 1990, I started working for Katayama Zoen company in Osaka Prefecture. Zoen is the term for Japanese-style landscape construction companies. I worked with the Katayama family business full time for three and a half years. During that time I learned much about the construction of Japanese gardens and the pruning of trees in the Japanese way. I must point out that there is a stark difference between the way plants are pruned in Japan and Europe.
TP: How is the topic of Japanese gardening relevant to gardeners outside the region?
GT: Western gardeners can learn much from their Japanese counterparts. Many Japanese gardens in Japan are in cities or urban environments. Yet when you visit, for example, the temple gardens of Kyoto, you leave the bustling streets behind once you enter the temple and garden compound. Japanese gardens on the whole are tranquil, like a hidden oasis in the city. They do not reveal the whole plan at one glance; instead gardens are divided into compartments.
Koto-in is a sub temple in Daitoku-ji, Kyoto. An attractive stone path, interspersed with Japanese maples, leads the visitor along a long, narrow approach to this temple garden, and this path is bordered by two walls that prevent the visitor from viewing the garden proper. Once inside, the visitor walks around the temple in stocking feet and views the moss and maple garden from the Hojo superior's abbot's quarters. Japanese gardens are manmade creations, but are made to seem natural. The moss in this and other gardens needs careful and regular maintenance to keep it in pristine condition. Leaves must be gently swept off; weeds must be removed by hand.
Finally, gardeners in the West can learn so much from the way the Japanese prune plants and train tall trees into multi-stemmed trees for small to medium sized gardens. Japanese gardens contain both formal and informal settings — straight pathways and hedges set against a 'natural' or informal grouping of trees and shrubs.
Japanese gardens would not be the same if there were no rocks. Carefully placed rocks certainly add character to a garden. Rocks and gravel are indispensable in 'dry landscape' gardens. This is the technique of using rocks to make waterfalls and rivers without water! Visitors to the most famous dry landscape garden in Japan, Ryoan-ji will see just how important rocks and gravel are to the Japanese landscape garden.
TP: Which specific gardens do you consider to be particularly important to the history of Japanese gardens?
GT: The three most famous gardens in Japan, Kenroku-en, Kairaku-en, and Koraku-en, are landscape masterpieces, but there are many other fantastic gardens. The Japanese garden in the Adachi Museum in Shimane Prefecture was voted as the best garden in Japan by the American Garden Club in 2003. This garden is a modern re-creation of the traditional Japanese garden. And without question, the temple gardens in Kyoto are historically important.
One of my favorite gardens is Raikaku-ji Temple in Okayama. This historic garden was designed by one of the all-time masters of Japanese gardens, Kobori Enshu (1579–1647). Kobori was born into a samurai family and succeeded his father as daimyo (feudal lord). This garden was constructed in 1617 and is famous for Japanese topiary, known as karikomi, which was made famous by Kobori. The Raikaku-ji garden is a 'dry landscape' garden, or kare-san-sui. The topiary hedge is made from clipped satsuki azaleas (Rhododendron indicum).
Japanese gardens re-create natural landscapes on a miniature scale. Many gardens will have a steep hill to imitate Mount Fuji, Japan's tallest peak. Other gardens re-create images from China — both real and imaginary places. For example, many gardens have a central island in a pond, which symbolizes Horai, the land of immortals. This idea comes from Taoist mythology in China.
TP: Describe the role that bamboo plays in the garden.
GT: Bamboos do play an important role in Japanese gardens. Bamboo plants are used as hedges or tall screens. The giant timber bamboo, Phyllostachys bambusoides, originated in China and is widely used for making bamboo fences. Another giant bamboo is moso bamboo, Phyllostachys edulis. This bamboo is most common around Kyoto, where it is cultivated for the edible shoots that emerge in spring. Golden-stemmed forms of P. edulis are popular garden plants.
Some bamboos have a historical significance. The arrow bamboo, Pseudosasa japonica, was widely cultivated long ago for making arrows. Many of the lower-growing bamboos are used as a ground cover. Kuma bamboo grass, Sasa veitchii, is still a very popular ground cover bamboo.
Garden brushes and rakes made from bamboo are widely used by both professional and amateur gardeners. Recently, bamboo charcoal has become popular once again. This is an effective way to deal with bamboo groves that have grown too big. Until recent times, household furniture was made from bamboo, but this has been superceded by cheaper imports from outside Japan.
In traditional Japanese gardens, the water to feed a water basin is fed through a bamboo pipe. It is known as a ka kehi in Japanese.
In short, bamboos are important plants in Japanese gardens.
TP: What are the present trends in Japanese gardening and what role do you expect them to play in the future?
GT: In recent years there has been a sharp decline in the construction and popularity of traditional Japanese gardens, in favor of English-style gardening. Japanese gardens are expensive both to make and maintain. Nevertheless, despite the switch to English-style gardening by many gardeners, the traditional style will never die out. What I envisage is a transformation — the emergence of a new style of traditional Japanese gardening. There are hundreds of beautiful historical gardens around Japan and they must be maintained in the style in which they were built. The Japanese gardener must maintain their traditional skills as well as adapt to the changing climate in gardening styles. Japan has gone through a long economic downturn in recent years and this has had a negative effect on gardening.
