Japanese garden - create your own oasis of peace and harmony
Garden
Harmonious and stylish. Japanese gardens combine stone, sand, water, and plants in a way that reminds us of nature. The result? An oasis that can fill you with peace.,Japanese gardens are often minimalist and simple, but they come in many variations, from zen gardens created by monks in the 14th century to gardens designed to be viewed from a distance – like a painting. The underlying idea is to mimic rural nature and recreate elements like rivers and mountains on a smaller scale.,When Japan opened up to the world in the 19th century, Japanese gardens quickly spread to the West. One of the first Japanese gardens outside of Japan was created by the Swedish gardener Rudolf Abelin in Norrvikens gardens in Bråstad, Sweden. Today, we find Japanese gardens in many places, often as parts of larger parks.
Written by: Liselotte Roll
Swedish garden inspirer, journalist and author of books about nature, cultivation and animals, such as "Soil", "Grow for insects" and "Chickens as a hobby".
Hold back and keep it simple
A Japanese garden is fun to create, and it doesn't need to take up much space. Just remember to use few elements and be restrained, as it is the frugal and simple that creates calm and harmony. Choose a couple of different plants that you use in several places in the garden, this is better than using many different plants. The same goes for garden decorations, too many give a cluttered impression. Maybe just one simple stone lantern or bamboo decoration is enough?
Make a miniature landscape
In Japanese gardens, the idea is to recreate landscape scenes. A stone can become a mountain, and a pond can become a lake. Check out how the garden looks from different angles, and feel free to create peepholes between plants for a nice view. To create a sense of space, trees and bushes are good, but a living wall can also be a nice starting point. Some Japanese gardens have narrow, winding paths of sand, gravel, stepping stones, trodden earth, or concrete. Along these paths, you can place beautiful details. It is also nice to place stones in a pond instead of building a bridge.
Four elements in a Japanese garden
A Japanese garden is usually built up of four elements; stone, water, plants, and ornaments. According to Japanese tradition, these should be used in such a way that the garden becomes asymmetrical and has a good sense of space.Stone,Stone is the symbol of mountains. The inland ice here in the North has made our stones soft in shape, while in Japan they are often a bit more angular. Regardless of which stones you choose, you can enhance the Japanese impression by letting moss grow on them. Also consider the placement, it can be practical to build stone arrangements in places where it is difficult for anything else to grow.Water,Placing a beautiful water barrel, bird bath, or similar in the garden are nice ways to incorporate the water element. If you want to do even more, a small stream flowing into a pond is fantastic. Let plants grow along the edge and lean over the water.If you prefer to avoid water, you can do like the monks in Zen gardens; Replace water with gravel or sand that is raked in wave patterns, resembling rivers and streams.
Plant
There are many Japanese trees and plants to choose from to create the right feeling in the garden, but it is also possible to find Nordic plants that fit in nicely.,,One of the most beautiful is perhaps the Japanese cherry blossom tree, which blooms beautifully in pink in early summer. Boxwood, azalea, peony, bamboo, and hosta also work well in the Japanese garden, as do Japanese maple, Japanese larch, iris, hydrangea, various ferns, and Chinese juniper.,,Check out our selection of beautiful Japanese trees,,Plants that change color throughout the season and turn a beautiful red-orange in autumn work particularly well. They extend the season. Plants that can be sculpted into elegant shapes are also valuable in this type of garden.,,Moss plays a natural role, partly as a soft base and partly as beautiful green covering on stones.,,If you like, you can even invest in potted plants, such as bonsai trees that can be brought indoors in winter.,,Ornaments,In Japanese gardens, it is common to have ornaments like stone lanterns or decorations made of bamboo, but also larger items like arched bridges over ponds and tea houses.,,Check out our garden decorations,,But as with most things in the Japanese garden, restraint is key. Empty spaces like water mirrors or raked sand areas provide the calmness a Japanese garden should have. As it is often said, "Less is more!".
WRITTEN BY
Liselotte Roll, Swedish garden inspirator, journalist and author of books about nature, cultivation and animals, such as "Earth", "Cultivating for Insects" and "Chickens as a Hobby".
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Garden