[P-Train]

I finally get to do a Japanese style garden this fall.

I've never been able to find a customer that wants one until now.

This is the wealthiest area of town, most of the homes are at least $400k and many are a million or two.

The customer and I hit it off. She signed up for a yearly maintenance service and we discussed the installment of the garden in the backyard.

Everything in her house was oriental. Statues, paintings, wall water features, you name it.

We were definitely on the same page as far as design elements and the look we wanted. So I think it will be cool to do a project with a customer like this.

Does anyone have any experience with Japanese gardens?

Also, what type of tree can be pruned to look like the wind is blowing it? I've seen them before and cherry comes to mind but I may be wrong. It was a deciduous tree.

[Bill Schwab]

Patrick:

From everything I have read/heard/etc. These are very difficult to install, and maintain. Habe not done one yet, but I would recommend doing your homeowrk, hit the library, maybe even locate a Japanese gardener near you who might be able to help out.

Sorry I can't offer more....

[P-Train]

I've been collecting Japanese garden links and books for years. Definately my favorite theme.

[VoodooChile]

P-train,
We have an excellent Japanese garden in the area, Anderson Garden in Rockford, and I picked up some ideas wondering around there in a daze.

1) Trees can be planted on a tilt, going the same direction as the prevailing winds, to evoke a more natural feel. Usually, these would be Pines (Pinus parviflora would be the obvious choice), pruned pretty severly to reflect the ravages of the elements.

2) Rock work extends into "human" spaces like paths to express the dominance of natural forces. At Anderson they literally have boulders in the middle of the walkways!!!

3) Traditional English notions of gardening, like bloom rotation and color maximization, don't apply. Simplicity is key, with foliage texture and contrast providing interest.

It's a whole different mindset from what we usually do, and I envy your opportunity. I almost landed one earlier this Spring, but the client seems to make up her mind like moss grows on rocks...real slow. So the house sits unlandscaped for the third year running...

Good Luck, and take/post plenty of pix!!!

[Stonehenge]

Good advice from both Voodoo and Bill.

I've noticed some similarities between the Frank Lloyd Wright style of architecture and Japanese style gardens, so looking into both may be a good idea.

We'll be finishing up a Japanese-inspired hardscape and landscape this week - I'll take some shots. I make no claims to being a master, but I've done a bit of research myself, and enjoy the genre.

[agla]

Don't get too caught up in the mumbo jumbo aspect of Japanese Gardens. Analyze what is happening within the gardens from a practical design point of view. Look at what is happening with land form, color texture, unity harmony, ...rather than trying to understand philosophies and applying them. You will see more garbage get justified with philosophic crap that a designer thinks they understood and applied.

Japanese gardens use all of the normal design elements, but play them differently. For example, we American landscapers usually gain unity by repetition of actual plants, or color, or texture. Often times the Japanese gardens sneak unity right past us by using landform or rocks to gain unity which allows them to radically contrast plant color, texture, and form without creating a mess. When you see a Bloodgood Japanese Maple in the same composition with, Black Pines, Azaleas, Ilex, Iris, ... and it works, you have to look where the unity is coming from rather than list out the plants.

That was one example, but you really should try to break down the plantings that you see into the basic design elements that are always present. When you think you see something that does not fit our traditional "rules", look further to see if they broke the "rules" or just finessed them in another way. Whenever you get the ability to break down successful planting into basic elements, you can analyze, and then recreate the same flavor no matter what style it is.

Basic plant elements include form, color, and texture. Planting design elements include unity, harmony, rythem, contrast, landform, positive space, negative space, foreground, middle ground, background, and plenty more. Always look for items or elements that are being substituted such as rocks for plants, or water for negative space, etc,...

Sometimes obvious tricks are so basic, but we over complicate them with all the mumbo jumbo philosophy that gets spewed out to twist it into something bigger than it really is. One of my favorites is the Zen raked pebble gardens with a trio of boulders in one corner. All that is just the creation of a vast negative space to empower the positive space created by the rocks. It is the same as a big shade tree in a pasture being much more the center of attention than in when you stand under it in a small court yard.

Design with your practical design knowledge and don't get sucked into the BS aspect. I always think of some HGTV shows when this suject comes up. My favorite Crap philosophy of the day is Feng Shui. I thought I would soil myself when some chump designer threw in some rusty relic into a planting to balance the Feng Shui after most of the rest of the landscape consisted of junk from a box store (including several cans of gawdy paint, tiki torches, and the usual bamboo mats to cover the chain link fence).

Look closely, break it down, and then build it back up. Do I make any sense?

[Stonehenge]

Great post, Agla. I'm a fan of Feng Shui, so I feel the need to defend it a little. I do think that those who use Feng Shui to try to increase their income, improve relationships, etc, are a bit out there. However, I think that the essence of Feng Shui is grounded in solid design principles. I own a few Feng Shui books, and they discuss the use of shape, color and texture, just as Agla mentions. So I guess I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just learn to recognize where the bathwater stops and the baby starts.

[P-Train]

Perfect, agla. I totaly agree.

Tiki torches...lmao

I like this site:

http://www.explorejapan.com/

This job will be on a slope with an existing bed.

[Stonehenge]

Chicago has a great Japanese garden: http://www.chicagobotanic.org/explor...nJapanese.html

[mdvaden]

There are good ideas in every reply in here.

We all know there is no such thing as a "Japanese" Garden in the USA. If anything, it would have to be in Japan.

And Feng Shui - bottom line - is an illusion. There really is no such thing - nobody can really put their finger on an exact definition of it. It's just said to be.

But aside from that - sticking within what many homeowners view as Japanese Gardening, there can be a lot of safety for the landscape professional to install a Jap. garden that displays the "essence" of that idea to the owner.

For example, raked sand and gravel and boulders are very minimal maintenance.

Instead of full-blown "to the letter" Japanese pine tree pruning, carefully maintained topiary "cloud" type pines can be used, in moderation - 1, 2 or 3 - not very tall.

Dwarf hinoki cypress can be "drop" pruned every 5 to 10 years, following leaders back to new leaders - secondary branches.

My observation, is that very few people can afford the Jap. Gardens installed according to the full rules of engagement - it's almost on the line of being a religion.

[justgardens]

P-Train from my understanding of japanese Gardens they use mostly hues of greens, golds and textures. Those textures extend not just to the plants but the natural hardscape within the garden itself. I haven't seen any true Japanese gardens with anything flowering. Educating ( preparing) your customer if they are not already when it comes to this type of garden so they won't be disappointed with the lack of "flower" display. You have got to get some Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' a gold form of Japanese forest grass into the design in several places for that wind swept feel. It dislikes the sun though. Great for a shady area of the garden. Get a soft sounding, natural looking, water feature somewhere in it. Maybe something cascading into the ground along the lines of a natural stone, pondless waterfall. I envy you ...I am already planning it in my mind.