Japanese Gardens in Britain

"In 1915 Laurence Weaver, editor of Country Life, wrote: 'The disposition of a few typical ornaments, of a bronze stork here and a stone lantern there, does not make a Japanese garden; it only makes an English garden speak with a Japanese voice.' Gardens in the United Kingdom have tended not to follow strictly the principles of Japanese garden design, for example the concern for borrowed scenery, or the vital balances in the asymmetry. However, the temptation in English garden to let trees and shrubs grow naturally, and particuraly to allow colour to take over, has in many cases evolved into a very successful hybrid of Japanese and western elements." (by Amanda Herries, p.36-37, A Shire Book, 2001)