Plants that Japan is Famous For

The Japanese have a high respect for nature that is captured in Haiku poems and that is promoted by Zen Buddhism and Shinto. The Japanese have several distinct plants such as the bamboo and the cherry blossoms which play a large role in Japanese culture. Their gardens are an alternative to the more flower-dominated gardens found in the West.

Bamboo

Bamboo is a very tall growing plant that is grown for use in construction, meals and other resources. The wood harvested off of the bamboo plant is very durable and light compared to a lot of other building materials. This plant is so hardy that it is difficult to get rid of, causing it to be a very renewable resource. Bamboo is the only food source of the Panda, an endangered species in East Asia.

Shrubs

Traditional Japanese gardens use shrubs a lot to fill in spaces, unlike with many other gardens that make a lot more use of flowers. These gardens prefer evergreen shrubs so that the gardens can remain unchanged throughout the year. Shrubs are useful for providing privacy and also reduce the maintenance needed on the garden. Some of the shrubs used are very flowery, with the most commonly used shrub being the azaleas.

Trees

The Japanese cherry blossom tree is famous due to the annual Japanese cherry blossom festival that is held around the time that the cherry blossom trees are blooming. During this time, Japanese women often dress in traditional kimonos for the entire day. The Japanese red maple is another famous tree that is popular due to its distinct, reddish flowers.

Moss

Japanese gardens use a lot of moss instead of grass for ground cover, especially in the gardens found at Buddhist temples. The Japanese use moss because they feel that the moss makes their gardens more tranquil. Mixed in with the moss is often gravel steps that are arranged in a nonlinear way. The three types of gardens that use Japanese moss are the flat garden, the tea ceremony garden and the hill and pond garden.

Bonsai

Bonsai trees are ordinary trees that are pruned in order to look like miniature versions of the full grown trees. These types of trees were developed by the Chinese and brought over to Japan, where it became a common practice among Japanese aristocrats. These deformed trees are often reduced to only the most essential parts of the tree, following the philosophy if minimalism that was popular in Japan when the bonsai practice was originally introduced.

Sources:

http://www.totallybamboo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=27
http://learn.bowdoin.edu/japanesegardens/elements/shrubs/shrubs.html
http://mygardenguide.com/trees/Japanese%20maple.pdf
http://www.bryoecol.mtu.edu/chapters_VOL5/7-2JapaneseMossGardens.pdf
http://www.bonsaisite.com/history1.html