Last week was my last at Anderson Japanese Gardens. My eight plus years as a horticulturist there has ended. While I learned a lot and am thankful for my time there, I am very much looking forward to my new position in the design build department of a local Nursery/Landscaping company. … [Read more...]
Japanese Garden How to Book Suggestions
Over the past several months I have had several readers looking for book recommendations to help them create their own Japanese garden. I have answered these individually based upon what type of garden they were planning on creating. They have ranged from an experienced construction professional looking to create a large Japanese style garden to an experienced gardener looking to add a small Japanese inspired section to their existing garden. Most everybody wants books with clear … [Read more...]
Small backyard Japanese garden design Part 5 adding a tsukubai
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. … [Read more...]
Small backyard Japanese garden design Part 4
Lets get back to the Japanese garden landscape design I have been working on in posts one, two and three. Our design looked like this when we left it last time: … [Read more...]
Small backyard Japanese garden part 3
In the last couple of posts (part 1 and part 2) we started a Japanese garden design for a very narrow backyard. In those posts we have created enclosure, defined the ground plane, and began adding trees to our design. Today we will finish up with the trees as well as add some shrubs for the design. … [Read more...]
Designing a small residential Japanese garden Part 2
Today, we will continue with our design for the small residential Japanese garden that we started in the last post. … [Read more...]
Designing a small backyard Japanese garden
Last post, I answered a reader's question whether her small yard was large enough to create a backyard Japanese garden. Today, I would like to show an example of how one could be made from her yard. She stated that her yard was only 20 feet deep back. While this could be considered a challenge, lets give it a try. … [Read more...]
Japanese garden in a small yard
I recently had a reader ask me the following question: I love the look of Japanese gardens and I love the one at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I think I would like to have a similar feel to my garden, but I have very narrow backyard. … [Read more...]
Japanese garden fall color lessons you can use
Last post I wrote about Japanese garden fall color. This post is about my favorite area for it. I also cover what you can learn from this Japanese garden fall color use in creating your garden sanctuary. The area is the path to the tea garden. I have never been able to completely capture it in a picture. Not only is it hard to photograph, it is also short lived. For about one week in the midday the area glows. The tea garden meanders through plantings of sugar and red maples. As you walk … [Read more...]
Japanese garden fall color can inspire your garden design
Japanese gardens reflect the changing seasons. They do this more than other styles of gardens. Using nature as a model for a garden means a more subdued summer in terms of color. It does however show off the beauty of spring and fall. Today, I write about Japanese Garden fall color. … [Read more...]