Download or read book The Flowers and Gardens of Japan written by Florence Du Cane and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-05-24 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: IT is safe to assert that no other country has such a distinctive form of landscape gardening as Japan. In English, French, Italian, and Dutch gardens, however original in their way, there are certain things they seem all to possess in common: terraces, which originally belonged to Italian gardens, were soon introduced into France; clipped trees, which were a distinctive feature of Dutch gardens, were copied by the English; the fashion of decorating gardens with flights of stone steps, balustrades, fountains, and statues at one time spread from Italy throughout Europe; and possibly the over-decoration of gardens led to a change in taste in England and a return to a more natural style.