What plants we suggest to give that “Japanese garden feel"
Okay, so you have been looking online at
these great photos of gardens but not seeing the names of the plants being used and it's leaving
you a bit stuck?
Well the aim of this blog is to point out and
give you a little bit more info on a few of the more popular plants that will
give you more of a traditional Japanese Garden. So, as you would
expect we will be covering Bamboo, bonsai trees and a few others that may or
may not take you by surprise...
Bonsai Trees.
To kick things off let’s start with one of
the biggest items you would be looking at for your new garden. It would have to
be a bonsai tree, but not just any old bonsai tree, not the typical dwarf indoor bonsai trees (while they are nice) this must be a sculpted piece of
artwork that will take the breath away from onlookers and is refined to the
point that it is the most impressive and center-most part of your garden.
Now of course there are many different
routes you could go down for this look, where you could buy it outright (which
let’s face it will put quite a dent in your pocket). Or you could start off
with a small Ilex Crenata or Buxus and trim it into shape yourself as the plant
grows. Note that this method will require a lot of time and patience!
Now we move onto Bamboo, this is probably what most people
think of and want for a traditional Japanese garden. Sadly it has earned itself a bit of a bad name as the "invasive plant"but in fact there are so many varieties of non-invasive clump-forming bamboos, you will be spoilt for choice!
In terms of impact the bamboo hedge can really tie a garden together, used commonly either as hedging or as a shrub to be grown as a specimen (perhaps potted) it works extremely well. We believe that this looks better however as a hedge as it will screen away unpleasant sights such as old fence panelling or perhaps give privacy from a nosy neighbour while also creating a lushious amount of green!
In terms of impact the bamboo hedge can really tie a garden together, used commonly either as hedging or as a shrub to be grown as a specimen (perhaps potted) it works extremely well. We believe that this looks better however as a hedge as it will screen away unpleasant sights such as old fence panelling or perhaps give privacy from a nosy neighbour while also creating a lushious amount of green!
However your garden looks, Bamboo is almost
a must for getting an oriental feel. Here are a few different bamboo types
that should cover all your bamboo needs!
Yang is recognised by her bright yellow
wood and bushy light green foliage. It represents the sunrise and the day.
Fargesia murielae or'Yin' symbolized by his
dark green black wood the setting sun and the night. Great for hedging and
standalone feature. New none spreading form reaching up to 3m. To maintain
balance and harmony you ought to find room for Yang.
Phyllostachys Aurea - golden groove bamboo
- Clump forming stiffly upright bamboo with grooved canes, bright mid-green at
first, becoming brown yellow when mature. Narrow pointed yellowish to golden
green leaves. Usually thought of as an invasive bamboo, when planed correctly and tended can be a great looking non-invasive clump-forming bamboo.
Phyllostachys Nigra stunning black canes
that start early life as a very dark green before maturing, set against dark
green, lance shaped foliage, height can reach 5m
This is probably the most iconic “Japanese”
plant we have on this list. Okay that may be a little too much praise. Nonetheless
it’s the tree everyone knows and should be an integral part of your new garden,
not to mention in any small part it is considered the national flower of Japan!
These plants are very richly symbolic and
hold great meaning with many cultural aspects from parts of Buddhist faith and
culture. While I do not have time to go into the impact Flowering Cherry trees
had in Japanese culture, I can safely say they are a must for your garden
whether you are making a themed garden or even if you are just interested in a
great looking tree!
Acer Palmatum also known commonly as
Japanese Maples, just from the name you can tell they should be a plant to
include in your garden checklist! These brightly coloured plants are deciduous
meaning come winter they will look a little bare, but that is a small price to
pay for the enormous amount of colour you can get from them the rest of the
year.
There are commonly two variations of this
plant being either a non-dissected or a dissected plant, now it can seem a
little confusing but the only difference between the plants are the shapes of
the leaves. Some people say that the dissectum varieties can hold their colours
for longer or appear more vibrant, but the final decision it should mostly come
down to personal preference over the shape of leaf.
Evergreen ground cover
Now you probably have a good idea of some
of our larger plants that we say to include in your garden, but we move on now
to the Groundcover section. This is usually an area that you can pick whatever
you wish to a degree, I would only say they should be evergreen shrubs so that
they cover the ground throughout the whole year. I have a couple of suggestions
that usually fit in well to get you started thinking of the plants:
Japanese Azaleas – as a small evergreen
shrub this plant fits in extremely well no matter the garden and with you not
needing to do anything for them they can fill up space nicely and will produce
tubular flowers of different colours depending on the variant you go for.
Pieris Japonica – Another common staple in
a lot of gardens and shrubberies this evergreen plant can come in a variety of
different colours from a silver to a bright green, again the specific variety
does depend on what colour scheme you want, but we do have a few varieties on
our site that you may wish to look through:
There are of course more plants I could go
into but we have covered the main few plants to give your garden the feeling it
has come straight from Japan itself! All you need now to finish this off is a Koi pond, traditional themed archways and a section for your “Rock Garden” or a “Zen
Garden”.
We hope this helps you find the garden of
your dreams, if you have any questions about the plants mentioned in this blog
then please do get in touch with me at zach@grasslands.co.uk.
Thank you
Best Wishes.
No comments:
Post a comment