In addition to trees and shrubs, the Japanese garden makes artistic use of rocks, sand, artificial hills, ponds and flowing water. In contrast to the geometrically arranged trees and rocks of a Western-style garden, the Japanese garden traditionally creates a scenic composition that, as artlessly as possible, mimics nature. Garden designers followed three basic principles when composing scenes. The first refers to the miniaturization of natural views of mountains and rivers so as to reunite them in a confined area. This could mean the creation of idealized scenes of a mountain village, even within a city.
Symbolization involves abstraction, an example being the use of white sand to suggest the sea.
The basic framework of the Japanese garden, according to one school of thought, is provided by rocks and the way they are grouped. At first, it was common to employ the hill style for the main garden of a mansion and the flat style for limited spaces.