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Create japanese garden


Japanese garden ideas: 14 ways to create a tranquil space with landscaping, plants, and more

It’s no surprise that the interest in Japanese garden ideas is growing fast as we all look for ways to create a truly calm and relaxing outdoor space. Known for their tea gardens, contemplative rock and gravel areas and bamboo water features, it’s easy to see why Japanese gardens captivate so many, but there are plenty of other clever design ideas we can discover and use too.

Historically Japanese gardens were designed for many different purposes, each with their own characteristics and features. Those surrounding tea houses were intimate retreats away from the hectic streets and daily life, while strolling gardens were intended for quiet contemplation and discovery through movement. Dry gardens featuring raked gravel and choice rocks were intended to be viewed rather than physically explored, and courtyard gardens were the precursor to today’s indoor-outdoor living. Each fascinating in their detail and meaning, we can include many of the same design ideas in our own spaces, no matter what their size, shape or aspect.

With so many standout plants, including stately bamboo, fiery acers and exquisite lilies and azaleas, it’s hard to resist introducing some Japanese style into your backyard. But how do you get it right and not over-do the dramatic plants and features? We’ve spoken to top designers and experts for their tips and advice so you can introduce some Japanese garden ideas to your own plot with confidence.

1. Go for undulating, sculptural forms

Japanese garden ideas designed by Maitanne Hunt

(Image credit: Maïtanne Hunt Gardens & Landscapes)

Many Japanese garden ideas are designed to be admired from inside the home, often framed by a picture window or arch. Faced with a secluded courtyard garden? Then why not try something similar for your own garden design ideas. The results can be hugely calming and provide an elegant green backdrop throughout the year. 

The team at Maitanne Hunt created this stunning design. 'We decided to use Soleirolia soleirolii as an alternative to moss used in Japanese gardens, taking advantage of its naturally mounding, creeping habit to create the impression of the Japanese hills our client loved. Soleirolia soleirolii is a vigorous, low maintenance ground cover plant, which looks fantastic in tropical, lush or shady gardens. It is good in part shade or shade, providing the soil is consistently moist but well-drained. 

There's more suggestions for the best ground cover plants in our guide. 

2. Choose bamboo features for instant Japanese style

Create a tranquil corner in your Japanese garden ideas with the Shishi Odoshi small water feature from UK Bamboo

(Image credit: UK Bamboo)

Fast growing, sustainable, tough and durable, bamboo is an unbeatable natural material that simply oozes Japanese style. Used for centuries in Japanese garden ideas and harvested in every size, its garden uses range from channelling water, creating fencing, privacy panels, archways, pathways and  – of course – wind chimes. 

Young green Moso poles make a neat, curving low fence when bent over and tied in place with knotted black twine – perfect for lining pathways or protecting precious areas such as delicate moss gardens or raked gravel areas. Giant poles – often up to 10mm or more in diameter – are useful for pergolas and shelters and can also be lashed together to create lightweight platforms. 

You can find out how to grow bamboo in our expert guide. 

3. Plant up a rocky outcrop

Consider including natural stone in your Japanese garden ideas

(Image credit: Buzy Lizzie)

Let the beauty of natural stone and Japanese garden ideas inspire you to transform a dull, sloping site. Fine gravel paths weaving through rocky outcrops, planted with low growing sedums, alpines, azaleas and statuesque conifers provide beautiful year-round color and interest and cast an instantly calming mood for small rock garden ideas. 

This Japanese-inspired tea garden by Buzy Lizzie is a crevice garden full of character and texture. Local stone laid side on and packed close together makes a bold contrast with laid dry-stone walls and boulder-edged planting areas. 

4. Be bold with a black backdrop

Black painted walls and fences are a striking backdrop for your garden furniture, such as this Amberley sofa set from Garden Trading

(Image credit: Garden Trading)

One of the easiest ways to introduce Japanese garden ideas into your space is to use large areas of black in your outdoor design. Whether it’s painted garden wall ideas, porcelain paving tiles or a wall clad in charred timber, it will create the perfect backdrop for highlighting minimal-style furniture and richly toned planting. 

Lush, glossy foliage and the intense orange, crimson leaves of acers are all accentuated by this dark, moody shade and it will also throw the intricate-shaped foliage into sharp relief too. 

Build on this strong statement by introducing furniture with striking black detailing too. This modern sofa set has a bold U-shaped aluminium frame and an extended low-level platform in teak to create a softer finish. 

5. Showcase miniature bonsai

Dark blue ceramic oval bonsai plant pot from Gardenesque

(Image credit: Gardenesque)

Perfection in miniature, bonsai trees first appeared in Japan around 1,200 years ago and, over time, were adopted by Zen Buddhist monks as tray landscapes where the diminutive but beautifully trained trees represented the universe. They soon became highly prized by scholars and today they have worldwide appeal in Japanese garden ideas. 

Start your collection by displaying your leafy treasures in richly glazed garden planter ideas. There are a few rules to follow though, as the Gardenesque team explains. 'The basic principles for estimating your ideal pot size are relative to your bonsai tree. The pot at its longest side should measure half the tree's height and the depth is equivalent to the width of trunk at the soil base. Chunky bonsai trees are better suited to square pots, whilst the more delicate trees in circular pots.'

6. Showcase an acer or two

Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki'

(Image credit: Alamy)

Exceptionally beautiful, Japanese maples are the perfect plant for your Japanese garden ideas. With varieties of all shapes and sizes – from small, weeping trees perfect for pots and besides ponds to stately specimens that reach up to 8 metres high – they will add elegance, structure and year-round interest.  

These slow-growing beauties can be a little diva-like in their needs, preferring a sheltered spot in free draining and non-alkaline soil. Once you've learned how to grow acers, however, you'll be rewarded with stunning autumn color and graceful, finely cut foliage that oozes Japanese style. 

Here are our five stand-out varieties for you to try in your space. 

7. Add a Japanese-inspired bridge

There are plenty of budget-friendly ways to mimic the effect of a Japanese style bridge in your garden design

(Image credit: Alamy)

You don’t have to have a stream or large pond in your garden to include a Japanese style bridge. Representing the journey from the mortal world to the afterlife or higher spiritual realm of purity and nature, a bridge is the ideal way to create movement around and structure within your Japanese garden ideas. 

Your bridge could take the form of simple stepping stone ideas in the middle of a shallow pool or a graceful arching bridge over a dry gravel and pebble river. The key is to thoughtfully integrate it into its surroundings.  

Creating a slight dip below the bridge and adding clumps of natural planting – ferns, ornamental grasses are both good options – at either end will help bed the structure into the ground. Frame the scene further by adding one or two of the best trees for small gardens nearby, so the lower branches can reach over and soften the effect. 

8. Light your Japanese garden ideas with stone lanterns

Stone lanterns are a traditional sight in Japanese gardens

(Image credit: Rohan Gangopadhyay/Unsplash)

Simply unmistakable, stone lanterns – tōrō or ishidourou – are a key feature in Japanese garden ideas. Originally made and positioned to light the way to temples and shrines, they were lit with a candle or small oil lamp. 

There are many different styles and sizes of lanterns, each with their own fascinating history and purpose, so it’s worth finding out about each design before you buy - try Herons Bonsai for a wide selection. 

Oribe lanterns tend to be tall – raised on a pedestal it has a square light box featuring a crescent, full moon and square openings while the three-legged Yukimi doro or snow viewing lantern was used to help fisherman navigate and traditionally sits with two feet in the water and one on land.  

No matter which lantern you choose, less is definitely more. A few, carefully chosen and placed pieces will add a chic and tranquil atmosphere to your outdoor lighting ideas, whereas too many can result in a cluttered, themed look.

9. Hang a ceiling of colorful lanterns

Hikari Solar Garden Lanterns from Not On The High Street

(Image credit: Not On The High Street)

This is a great way to cosy up any outdoor living or dining space. Hanging an assortment of fabric Japanese-style lanterns will not only introduce color, shape and pattern in amongst your planting, it will create the illusion of a ceiling too, helping to visually enclose the space. 

These sophisticated lanterns feature solar LED lights too for added atmosphere. Cluster them together and hang from your pergola ideas, garden arch or tree branches for a magical effect. 

This sloping garden was redesigned by Cityscapers to create a interconnected series of mini gardens surrounded by shrubs and lush grasses

(Image credit: Cityscapers)

Contemplation while walking, surrounded by nature, is at the heart of many Japanese garden ideas. Designed to be viewed from meandering garden path ideas, new garden features and views are gradually revealed with each twist and turn. 

The perfect way to make the most of a small outside space, it’s definitely a design trick we can use in many urban gardens today. Designer Nigel Gomme of Cityscapers has employed a similar approach in this gorgeous London garden. Using raised curving walkways made from rich-toned hardwood deckboards, the rectangular space is divided into five distinct planting areas each with their own planting palette and signature scent. Rounded shrubs and grassy hillocks echo the curvy design and increase the sense of movement. 

There's more clever ways to introduce decked areas into your garden in our decking ideas feature. 

11. Add handcrafted and traditional Japanese details

Japanese-style rain chains from The Gutter Centre

(Image credit: The Gutter Centre)

Character and charm often lie in tiny details and this is definitely true in minimal Japanese garden ideas. A carefully placed item – often laden with historic and traditional significance – can have significant meaning and look stunning against a particular background or surface. 

Shaka Tsukubai – a bamboo water ladle – traditionally used at Shinto shrines for purification, is often laid next to a stone water basin in a garden while each basin is surrounded by three kneeling stones or large flat rocks. 

Rain chains are another delightful detail that are easy to add to your Japanese garden ideas. Used for hundreds of years, these Kusari-doi’ channel water from the roof to ground via a series of tiny buckets or links. Historically made from copper, today you can also find stainless steel and mixed designs.

12. Go for a few thoughtfully placed features

In this Japanese-inspired garden design by Kirman Design , an Oribe lantern and Tetsu bachi (water basin) are the main focal points

(Image credit: Kirman Design)

When it comes to designing Japanese garden ideas, make the most of your existing garden features. Mature shrubs and trees, sloping banks or natural dips all present opportunities to get creative and a chance to try out fresh ideas. 

Take time to look closely at your space – removing a few low branches from an established azalea or camellia could open up enough space to nestle in stone water feature ideas or a lantern, or clearing out an overgrown corner could prove the ideal spot for a gravel garden. 

In this enchanting design by Kirman Design an existing acer became the ideal canopy and setting for an Oribe lantern and water basin. 'Creating a successful Japanese garden or arrangement within your garden hinges on authenticity,' says designer Rick Everett. 'Take the time to study how and why ornaments, rocks and plants are traditionally positioned in original Japanese gardens.'

13. Arrange a gravel and rock garden

A simple solution for Japanese garden ideas is to create a raked gravel garden in a corner of your plot

(Image credit: Alamy)

Whether you’ve a vast sunny spot or quiet, secluded corner, garden gravel ideas could be your perfect option. Consisting of flat areas of gravel featuring odd numbered groups of rocks, carefully chosen for their shape, markings and placed to suggest a distinct landscape, these areas seep tranquility and make a dramatic visual statement too. 

In both ancient Japanese garden ideas, and those surrounding Buddhist temples, the fine gravel is carefully raked to create concentric circles radiating out from rocks, straight lines like ploughed farrows and sweeping curves. Left open to the elements, the beauty also lies in the way the lines are shifted by the wind and rain. Choose a pale, cool shade of gravel – dove gray, white marble and silver blue granite all work well – and go for 6mm stones laid 75mm deep for defined raked lines. 

Feature stones and rocks are arranged in groups of three, five or seven. Chosen for their individual shapes, markings and color they are placed within the flat graveled area to represent key landscape features such as waterfalls, trees, mountains and even animals. Moss and lichen are encouraged to grow on the surfaces and the occasional small evergreen tree or conifer are sometimes added on the garden’s fringes. 

14. Mix stark and contrasting materials

This tranquil and contemporary Japanese-style garden was designed by Acres Wild

(Image credit: Acres Wild)

Playing with diverse surfaces and materials provides much of the interest in minimal, but creative Japanese garden ideas. 

'Japanese gardens are all about abstraction of nature in an artful manner which appears to be natural, but is in fact highly controlled and considered,' explains Ian Smith, Designer at Acres Wild. 'Here, black basalt was used for the path surface, and grey granite slabs were inserted to give the illusion of a bridge crossing water, which is itself represented by granite gravel. Granite boulders complete the illusion of a stream running between rocky banks.'

Find more inspiring options for your paving ideas in our feature.  

What plants work best in Japanese garden ideas?

Acers are a classic choice for your Japanese garden ideas

(Image credit: Alamy)

A much-asked question, we spoke to Natalie Hoare from the renowned Japanese Garden in St Mawgan, Cornwall UK for her planting suggestions for Japanese garden ideas. 

'The Japanese philosophy to approaching a garden design leans toward working with what you have. Although many Japanese plants are considered classic choices for a Japanese garden, it’s worth remembering that idea that what is true to the philosophy of Japanese design is to appreciate nature and design according to the requirements of your particular garden and to plant plants that will thrive in the environment. My top four plant suggestions are chosen as they are specific to our own little Japanese style garden in Cornwall.'

What features should you include in Japanese garden ideas?

Rocks and gravel are key elements of Japanese garden ideas and can be adapted to any size space

(Image credit: Alamy)

Hard landscaping ideas can include gravel, rocks and stepping-stones to provide plenty of contrasting texture and surfaces underfoot. Try tying pieces of bamboo together with black twine to create simple arches, gates, fences, and privacy panels. 

Encourage mosses to spread in nooks and crannies and plant clump forming grasses and shrubs for undulating foliage and to showcase the various restful shades of green.

How do I make my backyard into a Japanese garden?

This Japanese-style tea house is a beautiful addition to this enchanting English garden

(Image credit: Clive Nichols/Future)

Japanese garden ideas: 11 design tips for a zen backyard

Japanese garden ideas are works of art. 

Immaculate, serene and perfectly poised, these gardens have often taken a lifetime of study and devotion to produce.

And we may not have much time in our own lives to put aside for learning the gentle art of cloud pruning, intricate gravel maintenance or Kanso (the Japanese equivalent of Feng Shui).

But we can take inspiration from these life-affirming garden ideas to bring a little magic, reflection and quiet contemplation to our own outdoor spaces. 

Japanese Garden Ideas

1. Introduce water into a Japanese style garden

(Image credit: Future / Mark Bolton )

Water is an essential element in a Japanese garden. Adding a water feature is a wonderful garden decor idea that brings an extra dimension to the garden, providing a focal point and lending a sense of peace and tranquillity. 

The planting in and around it is vital to the overall effect of the water itself. Think of weeping willows bending down to the glass surface, or the color of Acer palmatum (maple) reflecting its fire-like gold and orange leaves across a pond or bowl. 

2. Preserve the moss and patina

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Garrett)

Long gone are the days of scrubbing every stone, pathway or rockery to create a 'clean' surface. 

Japanese gardens are all about preserving the patina. Age and life equals wisdom, after all. A Japanese-inspired moss garden is the latest trend for solving problems with patchy, yellow grass and overgrown lawns. 

‘Moss gardening is traditional in Japan and becoming increasingly popular in North-West and North America,’ says Guy Barter, chief horticulturist at the Royal Horticultural Society . Your garden should look as if it has been there for many years.

3. Embrace the Japanese concept of 'Ma'

Ryoanji or the Temple of the Dragon at Peace is a Zen temple in northwest Kyoto. The temple and gardens are listed as Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto and as a UNESCO World

(Image credit: John S Lander / Contributor / Getty)

The Japanese garden is a process of distillation and serenity, so overcrowding your space for the sake of it is a huge faux pas in Japanese culture.

The Japanese concept of Ma is something that relates to all aspects of life. It has been described by many as a pause in time, an interval or emptiness in space. Ma is all about creating the sense of balance that has both movement and stillness. It is filled with nothing but energy and feeling.

In theory, dedicate your time and passion to your outdoor space. In practice, do resist the temptation to fill in every last corner of the garden. Being 'unfinished' isn’t a bad thing in this instance.

4. Keep the color palette consistent

The Japanese Gardens during the fall weather at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

(Image credit: Chris Jackson / Getty)

If you had to pick one color that’s essential to a Japanese garden, it would be green. Use a variety of green hues to create a sense of quiet and calm, a place that is restful, a million miles away from the hectic pace of daily life.

That is not to say that the Japanese do not like color in their gardens. In Japan, if there’s any sort of bright color, it’s one plant at a time. If you're wondering how to plan a garden with a touch of color, go for azaleas, iris and maple – they are all very singular.

5. Create movement with sand and gravel

Japanese Zen Temple Garden; Kyoto, Japan

(Image credit: Philippe Widling / Zuma Press / PA Images)

If you’d like to make the move towards minimalism in a garden, consider dedicating a space to a dry garden with no plants at all – just sand, gravel and granite.

You can use a rake to create patterns in the sand, and change the patterns from time to time to make the garden feel new. While any kind of gravel will work, decomposed granite is best for getting those sharply raked lines.

6. Incorporate gates and pathways

(Image credit: Future / Annaick Guitteny)

'Pathways are used in Japanese gardens to help the body and soul to wander,' says gardener David Domoney . 'Most Japanese gardens feature decorative paths, walkways and bridges that meander to unseen areas of the garden.'

Many Japanese gardens have gates that aren’t intended as physical barriers. A gate or bridge can give visitors a sense of discovery, and will make a garden feel bigger by dividing it.  

Each area should be subtly concealed from the next, yet there should also be a sense of connectivity and harmony.

7. Use stones and boulders to create a natural look

(Image credit: Future / Howard Walker)

Rocks are used to create islands, cliffs, mountains, and of course rock gardens. Be mindful that their shape and placement call for great expertise.

You don’t want uniformity or consistency in garden walls or stepping-stones; quite the opposite in fact. The best stones for an authentic Japanese garden are rounded on one side, and flat on the other if they're to be walked on. 

To make your own natural garden path or walkway, look to riversides, in the forest, or by the ocean for stones with the right kind of shape. 

8. Create a hypnotic water feature 

(Image credit: Future / Andrea Jones)

A pond is a requisite feature of most gardens, and it if it can be fed by a running stream to create miniature waterfalls, so much the better.  

Ideally the stream should run from east to west, because purity is brought from the east. 

9. Understand the true nature of an authentic Japanese garden

Koraku-en, one of the three most famous gardens in Japan, with its pond, cherry trees, pine trees, tea pavilion and the black castle

(Image credit: Micha Pawlitzki / Getty)

While wanting to create a zen garden is a universal thought, ultimately one should never borrow from another culture without truly understanding its significance throughout history.

A Japanese garden reflects the complex character of a people for whom symbolism is seen in commonplace objects. To Westerners, it seems to lack color. But for the Japanese, a garden is not a place for growing flowers, still less for making geometrical patterns of shape and color in formal beds. 

The classical Japanese garden is a landscape, artificially contrived, and redolent of symbolism. Contour and contrast are everything; color is unimportant, except for a small accent.  

The garden is an extension of the house, and the verandah or patio is a platform from which to view the landscape and contemplate its meaning. 

10. Plant a traditional Japanese iris

(Image credit: Future / Annaick Guitteny)

Since the Japanese iris was first introduced to America in the late 19th century, it has become an essential part of many transatlantic gardens. Breeders began work almost immediately to increase the rate and improve the features of this exquisite new plant. 

The colors are also richer, due to an increased flower pigmentation. Such is the regard for the Japanese iris in America that entire gardens, such as the Ensata Gardens in Michigan, are dedicated to their culture, and attract thousands of visitors. 

Ideally, they look best beside water, where their reflections create a shimmering duplication and, more importantly, the roots can remain constantly damp. This is the secret to growing Japanese iris, and even a small garden pond could be enriched by a few of these irises planted around the edge.  

11. Take inspiration from imperfection

(Image credit: Future / Jennifer Ebert)

Aligning with the new awareness of the old Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi (or beauty and wisdom in imperfection), designer Chris Beardshaw made a dramatic statement in his Show Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 2019. 

The most captivating feature, in our opinion, was the wonderfully wonky pine tree, leaning on its own crutch. Its unconventional shape meant it was rejected by other gardeners, but it was exactly this unusual form which made the designer want to use it. 

What is a Japanese garden?

Japanese gardens come in all shapes and sizes, from small courtyard gardens to the larger tea and stroll gardens that are designed to be walked around rather than viewed from a static spot. 

They can include ponds and islands, bridges, tea houses and dry landscapes of sand and gravel and are full of design and planting ideas that we can try for ourselves.

How do you make a simple Japanese garden? 

Start by thinking about how people will experience your garden and design with that in mind. Imagine how they will get from one point to another and include a pathway that, when followed, will reveal and screen particular views as they travel through.

Look beyond the confines of your garden and design with its backdrop in mind, using planting to screen off less attractive features and using more pleasing ‘borrowed scenery' to enhance your design. 

Think about including water and guide your visitors over and around it using rocks and large flat stones as low-level bridges. The combination of water and rock represents the essential forces of life and nature. It is a staple of Japanese gardens and is a great addition to a sensory garden, too.

Also, creating a water feature brings something really special to the garden, encouraging wildlife and offering the opportunity to introduce new flowers and foliage.

How to plant a Japanese garden

When it comes to planting, include lots of evergreens, but ensure your mix of greens is subtle and interesting, and includes different textures.  Focus on foliage over flowers and bring in color to highlight a feature or celebrate the seasons rather than using it for its own sake.

How to make a Japanese garden in the country with your own hands

Everything in the Japanese garden is so small, small! Small mounds, small stones, and trees are also low. This diminutiveness is only to our advantage. The Japanese garden is a beautiful idea that can be realized even in the country with your own hands. Let's do it together!

What are the advantages of the Japanese style for our summer resident

The principle of the Japanese garden is privacy, silence and ... small dimensions. No need to bring boulders, make mounds of ten bags of pebbles, grow real baobabs. Gardens can be with a minimum of greenery, or even just stone and sand. And the size of the plot does not matter at all. You can set up such a garden in a flower bed under the window, or you can take a "wasteland" under it behind the house, where nothing is planted.

Known to all rockeries and rock gardens - and there are mini-versions of the Japanese garden.

How to make a Japanese garden in your country house

Are you not a designer? No problem! Just follow the steps:

Stage 1. Prepare materials

In a Japanese garden, all 4 elements must be - fire, earth and elements - fire, earth and elements. Air is free space, water is a pond or an imitation of a pond in the form of a mound of streams of sand or gravel, small pebbles. Or just a miniature installation with bubbling water. Large stones are earth. And fire is lanterns.

Therefore, the first stage: stock up on stones, sand, gravel, flashlights. The stones must be the same color, but the shape and size must be different.

Stage 2. We select plants

The main thing is not to plant bright, lush flowers here. Therefore, peonies, dahlias, roses will not work. The vegetation must be herbaceous or woody, homogeneous:

Can be planted in the ground or in ceramic pots.

It is necessary to cut and shape trees and shrubs, but not in the way we are used to. You can not give plants an unnatural shape of a ball or cube, for example. Be sure to keep the natural shape.

Stage 3. Draw a plan on paper - just by hand. The main thing is no straight lines and angles

Now, on paper, arrange all the elements in a circle, as if in a spiral, leaving a void in the center. All lines should be smooth, curved, not straight. All elements should be arranged asymmetrically - the Japanese never arrange them linearly.

Now start placing everything on the lot. Prepare it, remove debris, dig and plant plants. Then you can fall asleep with sand and stones.

Stage 4. Stone placement

If you do not know how to arrange the stones, arrange them in groups of 3, not parallel to each other. Lay the stone in such a way that it is stable, lying on the ground with its whole bottom, so that it does not seem that the stone is “rolling in the grass” or overturned. It is best to lightly bury the stone in the ground.

Place the most important and largest stone in the background.

There should be more horizontal stones than vertical ones, i.e. more flat stones than high ones.

Step 5. Lay out decorative elements

All compositions in a Japanese garden should form a visually versatile triangle, that is, be of different heights.

Stone lanterns are placed at the corners of the paths, next to the house or a bench, at the roots of trees. Bridges place them both above a stream of water, including over an imitation of a stream of water from crushed stone.

Stage 6. Making paths, if any

Fill the paths with pebbles, sand. And if you decide to pave with a stone, that’s also good. The main thing is not to lay the stones in such a way that you get clear four seams. Rectangles and squares in the Japanese garden should not be!

That's it! How to decorate a Japanese garden

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Japanese garden will look great:

Try to create a place of harmony and tranquility under the window!

How to create a small Japanese Garden in the Country - Ideas and Principles - My Ideas for the Country and Garden

Japanese garden in the country

If you are close to oriental motifs in the design of the garden, which will certainly not leave you indifferent to the Japanese garden. If you dare to organize it on your site, then you will have a haven of peace and tranquility, where you can always hide from the bustle of the city.

Japanese garden at the dacha

However, for the sake of justice, I admit that the creation of a real Japanese garden is quite an expensive pleasure. Therefore, you should not aim at large areas, you can simply organize a small corner, no more than 4-6 square meters, in your garden.

Japanese garden in the country - paths

Gardeners share two types of Japanese gardens - hilly and flat. You can choose between them in favor of the direction that best suits you according to the landscape of the site.

Japanese garden at the dacha - steps

Plain Japanese garden, located on a flat area, its entire composition is visible from any point of the garden. But a hilly garden can open differently from different points of view, in which the hills form the main part of the landscape.

Usually, five hills are arranged in a Japanese garden, one of which is higher than the surrounding ones. It symbolizes Mount Fuji, which the Japanese consider sacred.

Japanese Garden Lantern

Five Principles of Japanese Garden Design

Organize your garden with five fundamental principles that will make it truly Japanese.

The first principle is the asymmetry of landscape design. This is the basis of the nature around us, from which the Japanese try to take all their design ideas.

A pond in a Japanese garden

The second principle is the absence of random details that will confuse the organization of the garden. Any element of the site must be placed meaningfully and carry a certain symbolism.

Pine in a Japanese garden

The third principle is that the plants and stones chosen for the garden should be discreet in color, but expressive. They should be chosen according to the shape, usually the elements of the Japanese garden have a clear, regular and slightly rounded structure. The arrangement of plants and stones should be contemplative.

The fourth principle - usually the ground around the plants is either tamped or covered with fine gravel. In recent years, lawn grass has been planted, and the Japanese are trying to avoid large green lawns. They always have something stuck in the middle of the green carpet - a bush, a stone composition, etc.

Fifth principle - try not to compact the fit, leave a little free space between all the elements. Stop yourself from wanting to make a lot of flower beds, flower beds and plant a lot of trees.

Trees in a Japanese garden

Selection of plants for a Japanese garden

The correct selection of trees and shrubs is especially important for a Japanese garden. Japan has a peculiar climate and many plants are simply not grown here. But there is a selection of plants adapted to Central Russia that can be planted in a Japanese garden.

For example, Japanese sakura, known to everyone for its beautiful flowering, can be replaced with an ornamental variety of plum, steppe almond or felt cherry.

Cold hardy varieties of rhododendrons can also beautify your Japanese garden. The Japanese maple, unfortunately, is not quite suitable for our climate, but instead of it you can plant a black elderberry with beautiful leaves and a crown shape.

Bonsai in a Japanese garden

A little bit about bonsai trees.

Learn more