The Time of the Western Lawn Is Over
Water, Beauty, and the Case for a Different Yard
From the essay
A few weeks ago, while this paper was already taking shape in my mind, I visited a Botanic Garden. What stayed with me most was not the size of the grounds, but their still center: two gardens presented under the contemporary name Japanese gardens, each reflecting a different historical moment in the distant past. A Chinese friend later told me that even this label may be historically debatable. I am not qualified to settle that question here, so I will simply use the name by which such gardens are commonly known today.
Adapted from PDF pages 1.