Designing A Japanese Water Garden...
Japanese water gardens are ideal for small spaces perhaps mainly due to the Japanese custom which supports smallness, privacy and peaceful. This does not mean that the Japanese water garden does not work for large spaces. Japanese gardeners have developed a special way of enjoying the pleasures of water and gardening...
Design components of Japanese water gardens...
A large pool set is required to build a Japanese water garden and it has to be in a quiet venue. The space needs to have a lot of plants such as bamboos, Acer and dwarf pines. You will also need to have a stone lantern, boulders, rocks, summerhouse and bamboo deer feature, stepping stone will add cream to the cake and enhance your garden.
Is the design right for my garden?
This water garden would never work if you have a lot of noise in your garden. You do not need noisy kids, plastic toys and pesky pets. A Japanese water garden needs to be in a quiet place. How To Build Water Gardens For The Home
If you do not have a large space in your garden, then your alternative would be to use a Tsukubai stone basin and fill it up with water. You can also use a Suiseki stone basin.
Design guidelines for success
- Watch Japanese movies or read Japanese magazines they usually show this garden style once or twice in every movie or magazines. You can get you design ideas from here.
- Use high walls, bamboo screens or a belt of trees to enclose the space
- Do not use painting wood with hot "cedar" type paints. Make sure that you only use a thin wash of white emulsion to create a weather-worn effect
- Use pines, willows and Acers as a backup
- Japanese water features such as a deer-scarer will enhance the design as well.
- Look for character stones that are worn out and smooth.
How To Build A Japanese water garden...
- Draw up a sketch of the design first - then make a detailed diagram taking into consideration the house, boundaries, structures and large trees. Note all drains in the area.
- Get rid of all unwanted plants
- Dig out and build the biggest pool using a butyl line
- Build a small island in the pool and set the stone lantern in place
- Build a simple shelter
- Put simple plastic chairs in the shelter
- plant dwarf pines and bamboos in containers and allow them to spread over the ground
- Mulch the ground in and around the plants with crushed bark
Care and maintenance
A Japanese water garden needs to be cleaned and maintained. You must aim to keep the garden clean but not too tidy as this will destroy the Mediterranean rusty look. Regular weeding, mowing and cleaning of the pool is necessary. Dead leaves need to be removed but remember to try and live the garden a bit untidy.