Japanese Water Features for the Garden

Water Basins

• Water basins, called "tsukubai," are a common feature in many Japanese tea gardens. These are most often made of rock, in which a basin is carved into the top of a large stone, though they may also be made of metal, such as bronze. Used as a wash basin, these are fed with running water with a bamboo pipe known as a "kakei." A bamboo ladle is also a common object found on the ledge of the basin. According to David and Michiko Young, authors of "The Art of the Japanese Garden," tsukubai were originally used by tea guests to purify their hands before a tea ceremony. Basins found in tea gardens are much lower to the ground than in other types of gardens, where they are simply a visual accent.

Water Pots

• Large metal pots filled with water can be used as a miniature lily pond, and create a visual intrigue as they reflect the sky, and accent other round objects such as stepping stones. These also act as a birdbath. Water pots work particularly well in smaller Japanese gardens in residential areas or in a courtyard-sized space.

Ponds

• Whether natural or man-made, ponds have been a main feature of Japanese water gardens in Shinto purification ceremonies since the sixth century. The shape of a Japanese pond garden can be nearly anything, though it is an important design principle that ponds not be in geometric forms like rectangles or circles, in large gardens. Ponds should look like a natural part of the landscape. If possible they are fed by natural springs or streams. Bridges, with their particular styles and architecture, are a feature as popular as the ponds. They often provide access to islands within a pond or to cross garden streams. Bridges may be made of arched wood, reinforced arched stone, flat stone, stepping stones sunk directly in the water, flat wooden brackets, staggered planks or flat boards in a zig-zag pattern.

Waterfalls

• Waterfalls are a focal point and highlight feature in a water garden. They indicate where water enters a pond and, if possible, should be a natural or natural-looking cascade. Since natural waterfalls are not always on the property where a garden is being made, one can be created by directing water over a drop formed of rocks on a vertical face cut from a hill. By planting various plants at the top of the waterfall, it obscures the exact perception of the waterfall's height. There is a waterfall classification for Japanese garden waterfalls: "right and left-falling," divided into two cascades; "side-falling"; "front-falling"; "folding-falling," in a series of falls; "stepped-falling"; "wide-falling"; "heaven-falling," very tall; "thread-falling," in thin lines; and "linen-falling," in thin, curtainlike sheets.