I was asked to show what the plantings around the Pondless Waterfall were and what they looked like now (a year after they were planted), so I thought I would add a quick video to show anyone interested. If you missed the post about the Pondless Waterfall redo itself, take a look at it here. … [Read more...]
Local Inspiration for your Nature Inspired Garden Part 1
In a previous post, I wrote about using a natural area as the inspiration for your garden. In it, I wrote about using plants and materials that are native to your area. Doing this helps to bring about the feeling that your garden is actually related to the surrounding landscape. To use native plants in your garden to invoke a natural place, we need to know what plants to use as well as how they are arranged in natural areas. To do this it can help to classify the natural area we are trying to … [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...]
Integrating your house and landscape
When designing a new landscape or renovation, integrating your house and landscape should be a priority. … [Read more...]