Chinese Garden Design - Seasons

The scenes in a Chinese garden not only change along the touring route, but also change with the four seasons. The plants in Chinese gardens were celebrated not only for their attractive features and their symbolic meaning, but also for their seasonal changes that help to create a dynamic viewing of the scenery in the Chinese gardens. Sprouting in Spring, flowering in Summer and dropping leaves in Autumn, even the shaking of a bare branch under Winter’s wind is all-interesting to Chinese people. As seasons pass, the changing scenery in the Chinese gardens reminds the visitors of the passage of time, and helps them “touch” and live in harmony with the rhythm of nature.

In Chinese gardens, the scenic sections were created for use in the different seasons. For instance, a secion that is dominated by a lotus pond is un-resisted in Summer, when the scent of the lotus in the pond will draw you to them, while one planted with chrysanthemums is the focus in Autumn.

Yuan Yi also stated the importance of the four seasons in making use of natural scenery during the design of Chinese garden:

“There are no fix rules for the design of Chinese gardens but there are certain principles in making use of the natural scenery. The important thing is to keep in mind of the four seasons, at which point of the compass any feature in place is of little importance.”

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