With a rough sketch of a garden design in hand, a landscape designer and interior designer stopped by the nursery. They wanted to see what Japanese plants we had on hand for a new garden that was under construction. Part of the garden was to be a Japanese inspiration garden. The Japanese theme was to carry on throughout the remainder of the new patio plantings. Under construction were garden walls and paver patios. There were very few straight lines in the design; it was a series of half circles. The design duo wanted a tour of the nursery for ideas to finish the design.
Having never been involved with designing a Japanese garden, I was flying by the seat of my pants. I was glad my job was just to point out possibilities of different plants. Point and smile - kind of like Vanna White. This project didn't seem to have a budget and that made it easier to come up with suggestions. We started with maples.
- Japanese Maples. Laceleafs and Bloodgoods in sizes ranging from small containers to mature specimens. Given all the pavement and full sun location, it is probably too hot for laceleafs.
- Bamboo. Golden Crookstem might be the answer for the area with the backdrop of the stone wall. With night lighting, the shadows from the swaying movement of the bamboo would be accentuated against the wall.
- Liriope. The floor of the inspiration garden was to be part raked gravel and part groundcover. Big Blue Liriope would be too tall for this area. Creeping might be a better option.
- Conifers. Large Tanyosho and Mugho Pines on standards would give the garden a mature look. Rowe Arboretum Lacebark Pine might be a good substitution for a Japanese Black Pine. Procumbens and Gold Lace Junipers are low growing evergreens for color and texture. Dwarf Hinoki Cypress could be the perfect accent plant. A Cascade Falls Weeping Bald Cypress might need to find a home in this garden.
- Deciduous trees. I had to show them my current favorite maple. Given the hot conditions of the site, I thought a Shantung Maple might work better than a green laceleaf maple. On the way, the interior designer commented on the form of the weeping redbuds. That required a stop at the Young's Weeping Serpentine Birch to see if one might work in the design. Flowering tree form Hydrangeas got their attention and suddenly they might be the perfect answer for planting in front of the wall. I expressed concern about the radiant heat, but they decided to worry about that later.
- Filler plants. Smaller plants would go in once the larger ones were in place. We looked at Firepower Nandina, Peonies, Butterfly Bushes, Boxwood and perennials.
Worn out by the possibilities, the design duo left and told me to schedule a delivery for the next day. They would call back later in the day with the order.
Tomorrow - Part 3 - Installing a Japanese Garden. The plants leave the nursery and the installation of the Japanese garden begins.
Yesterday - Part 1 - Creating a Japanese Garden. The idea for the garden begins when an interior designer looks out the window.
Click on Plants and Bulbs for more articles by Susan Mertz.
