Japanese gardens are truly works of art. The creativity with which the Japanese handle their greenery can have awe inspiring results. The art of Japanese style gardening has now crossed the boundaries of the island as people around the world are now taking to Japanese style gardens.

When starting off with your own Japanese garden it is best to keep it simple and try and emulate the nature of your surroundings. The real task is to learn about the palette of garden plants that are used in Japanese gardens. This process will require you to do a certain amount of research but that shouldn’t be too difficult. You would want your Japanese garden to have a nice variety of different plants but just what kind of garden plants do Japanese gardens have?

The typical Japanese garden style that is catching on is the hill and pond garden. When compared to European gardens the Japanese versions come across as far more relaxing. You will be making use of Asian plants in your Japanese garden.

The placement of garden plants is spaced out over the region in the form of small flowering trees. Shrubs are most normally used to create the foreground. Then come the hills and a small pond with the forest trees forming the background. The plants that make the foreground row are deliberately given rounded shapes in order for them to represent hills and clouds. 

You will find an abundant use of evergreen garden plants in Japanese gardens. This is because such trees seem to represent permanence. The placement of plantings is done in a very strategic manner and they tend to be sparse. Variety is often deliberately restricted in Japanese gardens and the reason behind that is to create a more detailed focal point.

Popular Japanese Flowers

There are a number of Asian and Western trees that can be used in a Japanese garden for creating the background. The Cedar and the Canadian hemlock are amongst the most popular of these trees. The coastal redwood, Japanese black pine and the Himalayan white pine are other fine examples of trees that can be used in a Japanese garden.

There are certain trees that are deciduous meaning they need a lot of water in order to grow. Such trees need to be placed close to the pond and are often used in a manner so as to create a border. The scarlet maple, water oak, tulip tree and the good old willow are classic examples of deciduous trees used in Japanese gardens.

When it comes to the hedges that ought to be used in a Japanese garden you have the flowering quince, Japanese barberry, Yew and the Japanese pittosporum on the palette. You will have a wide variety of choices when it comes to picking the colorful garden plants and flowers for your garden. The spectrum includes Japanese irises, Japanese maples, Japanese tree peonies, Azaleas and the Illex crenata.

There are a few plants that can be used to cover the ground in a Japanese garden. This adds more texture and further enlivens the place. Examples of plants that can be used for ground covering are the Japanese Ardisia, Baby’s teras, Japanese Sweet flag and the spurge.