Garden (un)design

James Fenton in today’s Guardian Review decries a dangerous buildup of design concerns when it comes to gardens.

I think, taking the few, precious, historic Japanese gardens we have an an example, that design has its place. It can result in a an effect of completely natural development; an absence of design. A Japanese garden can look obviously designed but so uplifting and absorbing that it is a liberator of the mind instead of an oppressive place. Even though in some cases each and every pebble for the shore of a pond was chosen and placed by hand, the effect is still natural hundreds and hundreds of years later.

I particularly like Daisen–in, Shugaku–in, Kôtôin, Daitokuji Hojo and Kinkaku-ji.