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context: gardens > general points > standard elements
Water
Preferably lots of it, enough to row a boat around in and have room for a couple of islands. Otherwise, a pond with some large rocks will do. Note that even in dry gardens, viewers are assumed to infer water from the rippled gravel.
Water should seem natural: meandering, curving, never geometric. Fountains were not used, but waterfalls were a common element, not just for their beauty but for the sound - similarly, stones were places in shallow rivers to improve the quality of the sound.
Note also that there was also a big practical advantage in having a large body of water near at hand when the houses are built of wood and paper, and were frequently endangered by fires.