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Small backyard Japanese garden design Part 5 adding a tsukubai

April 19, 2014 By Jim 9 Comments

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Today, we will finish up our 5 part small backyard Japanese garden design. We will add a tsukubai, ornaments, and a few more plants. Finally, we will see how this design could look if built.

Here is how we left our design. You can click on the images to make them larger. You then need to click “Back” in your web browser to return here.

Japanese garden with ground cover and perennials added

Now lets finally add that water feature I promised in the 1st post.

Tsukubai, a Japanese garden water feature

We could have built a pond, stream, waterfall, or pondless waterfall, but those would have taken a bit of space and expense. Instead, we are opting for a simple tsukubai or water basin.

Tsukubai
A tsukubai with a piece of bamboo and a hidden pump supplying water to the stone water basin.
photo credit: jpellgen via photopin cc

A tsukubai is a contribution of the traditional tea ceremony to the Japanese garden design repertoire. Guests to tea houses were supposed to enter the tea room pure in mind and body.

The garden was provided to relax the mind and a tsukabai for washing the hands. Tsukubai are typically low and flat to encourage humility in guests by requiring them to bend down.

Since in our garden this is more for visual interest, I have shown it taller to enhance it’s visibility from the house. Traditional or not, either would work. It should be made of stone in some form.

Here is our design with the water basin added:

Japanese garden with tsukubai added

The water basin looks a little sparse alone. We will alleviate this by adding ferns around it as well as in the landscape bed closer to the house. This will help to tie the two areas together.

One fern we could use is Lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina). Lady fern takes quite a bit of sun as long as it receives adequate moisture. Another couple that would work are Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) or Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides).

Japanese garden with ferns added around the tsukubai
Ferns are used to soften the Tsukubai water basin area and the stones used as a base surrounding it. They are also scattered about to tie the different parts of the garden together.

A couple ornaments added

The last element we will add to our garden design are a couple of “ornaments”. The first being a stone Japanese garden lantern which we will add along with a fern in front of the Japanese maple. This lantern with the fern next to it is similar to the tsukubai with the ferns around it. The ferns will make these two elements seem visually connected.

Next we will add will be a bird feeder on a stand. This will help to attract birds and bring the garden scene to life when looking out upon it from the house.

Small backyard Japanese garden with lantern and birdhouse added
The stone lantern added in front of the Japanese maple and the bird feeder located in front of the hedge provide more visual interest through out the four seasons for viewers of the garden from the house or the patio.

Now lets see how this design would look from different views.

Japanese-garden-view-from-patio
View from the patio area.
Japanese garden view from window
View of stone lantern from a living room window. This one uses Blue False Indigo.
Japanese garden view from patio door
View from patio door
Japanese garden viewing water basin (tsukubai) from house
View from window of the water basin
Japanese garden view from entrance
View from entrance to the garden
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Filed Under: Design, Japanese garden landscaping, Restorative Environment

Comments

  1. Roupa says

    February 26, 2020 at 11:57 am

    Awesome!!! You are truly inspirational – thank you so so much for sharing your ideas, planting advice and plans.

    Reply
  2. Www.Thstone.Com says

    July 22, 2018 at 9:33 am

    Islands may additionally be planted with flowering shrubs.

    Reply
  3. Nicole Wheeler says

    May 15, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    Thank you for this post….this was exactly the kind of guidance and inspiration I was looking for!

    Reply
    • Jim says

      May 15, 2017 at 9:12 pm

      Thanks. I am glad you found it helpful.

      Reply
  4. Sherry says

    January 7, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    Absolutely brilliant. I love that you started from nothing and took us through the whole process.

    Reply
  5. Gilles Leblanc says

    June 16, 2015 at 5:36 pm

    Great series of article. This has inspired me to start planning a garden in my own backyard. I am starting the plans tonight !

    Reply
  6. Erin says

    August 20, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    What a beautiful way to create a sanctuary in a small backyard. We’re exploring the idea of doing something similar with our back yard and enjoying the process as much as the result.

    Reply
  7. Sophia Liam says

    May 23, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    This looks like it’s going to be a fantastic addition to your yard. Do you mind me asking what materials you use for your models? Or is it all CG? If so, I’d love to know what program you are using. Garden organization would be so much easier if I could use a program to make plans that detailed.

    Thanks,
    Sophia Liam | Chloe’s Chic, Shabby Bargains

    Reply
    • Jim says

      May 23, 2014 at 8:42 pm

      They are all computer generated. The design is done in AutoCad, converted to 3D in Sketchup and rendered using Shaderlight (if I remember right), and touched up in Photoshop CS5.

      Reply

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