As a certain Mr.Brown once said 'your garden has capabilities' - of course it has the potential to be a proper Japanese style garden. Look to the example of Kyoto and Tokyo courtyard gardens.

Some initial thoughts;

- You have enclosure and that fence isn't too oppressive and you clearly have a good selection of plants already.

- You have what Alan Tichtmarsh calls a 'centrifuge' garden. All the planting is on the perimeter, the viewer inevitably stands at the centre. Not good.

- The little brick wall is the only defining aspect of your garden and it's pinning you down to the current pattern. If you can bear to consider phasing it out.

- That shady corner would be perfect for a cool drink in the afternoon/evening yes? Consider a seat/paving so you can sit there and enjoy your garden.

- Consider increasing the screening around that corner so it becomes more secluded. Perhaps a stepping stone path will lead you to it. Perhaps that path will need a japanese lantern to guide and light the way?

- You're looking from your shady corner across the garden what do you see? That shed? Consider disguising it with an oriental type frontage or placing strong planting in front of it.

- Just off a two thirds of the way up the grass is where you want one huge stunner of a rock. Something that an acer or fern will look great against. Think big.

- Consider dropping the grass altogether and getting salt'n'pepper gravel (see threads on chicken grit). It will make a huge difference and doesn't need mowing!

Nuff for now, what do you think?

Thank you for your suggestions. It gets me started thinking.

I plan to relocate the shed within the next few years, the fence facing the street will actually be replaced with a new fence, but a few more feet further out giving me more space in my side yard (shed will go there).

But that will take a while so I am starting on one corner first.

I always have a problem with laying rocks on top of my soil, eventually the rock sinks and embedded in the clay soil, which is impossible to get rid off and do digging to put in new plants. Any suggestions?

Getting rid of the brick wall for the bed will be a big commitment, as it goes all the way across even behind the shed. I would do like to keep the same elevation, it is good for the plants, but that corner will be rounded out most likely. Any ideas how and what to establish the new border? Or could it be just a raised mound of dirt?

Cytania's advice sounds good to me.

I suggest that the first thing you decide on is - exactly where in the garden do you want to sit. But don't even think of having a stone bench to sit on - you won't enjoy sitting on it for more than a few short minutes.

Instead get the most comfortable chair you can lay hands on - one that you can take a nap in if you feel like it - and put that there. With a low table next to it for your coffee, tea, book or whatever. Take your time & consider what the view's going to be like from that spot. Place your rocks, shrubs & so on accordingly. Err on the sparse side rather than planting too many.

Herb

This picture is not meant to be a suggestion that you should remove everything and cover it all with gravel.

It's only meant to turn one of your pictures into a blank slate & perhaps make it easier to imagine an eventual layout.

Ideas, anybody?

Click here

Well, since the area isn't so big I would probably try to keep it simple. For example, one half would consist of several bushes of bamboo (like a forrest), a few properly placed stones, perhaps one japanese maple, all in gravel. As for adding a water element... a tsukubai + lantern close to the place from where you view the garden, would be very nice! Dont forget the path leading to the tsukubai + wood deck (or whatever). If you like, you can edge the gravel using wood poles of different height.

Dont flood the area with stuff, simple is often better... if properly placed.

/henrik

I decided to try some different thinks in photoshop, and this is what I came up with... the plants and stuff are taken from various pics on my harddrive, no offence to the owners...

{{gwi:1009275}}

I decided to add a tsukubai and lantern, and the path, and surrounding it I added various plantings, you could use whatever plants you feel comfortable using. And behind the tsukubai, I added a japanese red maple ( the black lines) and on both sides also bushes of bamboo (the vertical black lines). But this area can surely be developed in many other ways depending on the mood u wanna set and what other things teh area can be used for. if u cant add moss at teh path, use grass (slow growing sort). The green on the pic is my lawn, not moss. I surely recommend u vary moss/gravel to balance the scene. Only gravel or only moss can be distracting I think.

good luck!
Henrik

MrNorth has composed a very classic looking Japanese scene however it would be wrong to have the stepping stones leading you into a blind corner. Likewise the tsukabi is a basin for washing before entering the garden. Ditto the garden lantern is to guide you towards something or light your way.

These are good elements to include but place them to make sense. Ideally the path should lead you to your sitting area with the lantern along the way. As you look back the garden should show you it's plants and rocks. Even a small garden can have a 'mind journey'.

I'm wondering if that corner is the place that PoorOwner had in mind for sitting in the shade? If it is, it would be interesting to see a picture taken from there - maybe from the other side of the fence, though it might mean standing on a ladder? It might produce some more suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, yes, that is the corner is where I would like to be sitting down. When I am sitting at the corner I would be viewing my patio, at my house and container plants and roses on the other end of the garden. I know it's strange but I am growing all kinds of plants in a small space.

Is there any other opinions as to keeping or getting rid of the raised bed (the brick border)? I really like raised bed, the fence is quite old so the raised dirt does help keeping the bed up.

O.K., how does this appeal as a start?

Herb

Click here

Maybe this is how it could look after various plants have grown a bit. The chair doesn't look comfortable enough for me, but it was easy to cut and paste.
Click here

Thanks alot for the screens and suggestions. Especially Herbs, it gives me some ideas, and I will try to visit some places and source out some rocks.

I don't like a log border but thinking maybe more like a rock border.

PO,

If you're going to use rocks, I recommend you get them as big as you can manage, & that you sink half of each rock below ground level - that'll make a more stable support for your raised bed. I dug a trench and laid the rocks in it & then backfilled it, mostly with bark mulch. It won't stop weeds, but it makes it easier to pull them out.

This is what it looks like - Click here

Oooh, I want to play too!

{{gwi:1009276}}

That looks like a dream ;) wanna take a shot at my scene too, in my thread? LOL... you done an amazing with with this scene!!!

kind regards
Henrik

Sorry Henrik, but I can't figure out how to incorporate your deck into a plan. I have seen photos of japanese homes where they extended the living room flooring to the outside and have a koi pond that goes alongside and slightly under the "deck". Then they put a fence around the pond area to enclose it so it is only visible from the house's sliding shoji screens. But you appear to want to keep the yard open. Also, I'm a Californian and am clueless as to what would survive in your climate. Sue

very nice Sue,..
If you feel like working on /Henriks, just place the shapes, tree's -shrubs or groundcover you wish and I'll suggest the replacement species.
He is about to run into problems since sumac is mid to deep shade and his mugo has large needles indicating it will eventually be too close to his deck, where it currently is, peony needs morning to full sun, extra deep planting, etc. --edzard