Metaphor

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something; the closest definition might be “patina”. While a cement lantern may be one of a kind, it lacks that ideal image. A rock can be old and covered with lichens, but if it is just a round boulder it has no wabi. We must strive to find that balance.
Both the concepts of ma and wabi/sabi deal with time and space. Where the garden is our space, time is ably presented by the changing seasons. Unlike the western gardener (who deserts the garden in fall, not to be seen again in spring) the Japanese garden devotee visits and appreciates the garden in all the seasons.
In spring one revels in the bright green of new buds and the blossoms of the azaleas. In summer you appreciate the contrasts of the lush foliage painted against the cool shadows and the splash of koi in the pond. Fall wrests the brilliant colors from dying leaves as they slip into the deathly hush of winter, the garden buried under a shroud of snow.
Winters is as much a garden season in Japan as spring. The Japanese refer to snow piled on the branches of trees as sekku, or snow blossoms, and there is a lantern known as yukimi that is named the snow viewing lantern. Even this season that represents the death of the garden is a vital one for our Japanese gardener, while our western gardener sulks until spring. Perhaps it is the eastern acceptance of death as a necessary component of the life cycle (or is it the western fear of dying?) that separates the two gardeners.
Garden Enclosures
Another concept inherent in every Japanese garden is enclosure. As we noted, the garden is to become a microcosm of nature. For the garden to be a true retreat, we must first seal it away from the outside world. Once it is enclosed, we must create a method (and a mindset) to enter and leave our microcosm. Fences and gates are as important to the Japanese garden as lanterns and maples.
As with most things associated with the garden the fence and gates have deep symbolic meaning as w...