Japanese Gardens Offer Many Benefits

The benefits of a Japanese garden or landscape are many.  They include:

• Providing a place for peace & serenity;
• Helping one connect with nature;
• Health benefits by helping to relieve stress. Many gardens include a koi pond and watching koi is known to help relieve stress, as well as provide many other benefits;
• Added exercise with maintaining the garden;
• Inspiring new thoughts;
• Encouraging reflective time and meditation which helps to improve focus;
• Conserving water through reduced plantings and use of natural elements.  Japanese garden and landscape designs can also be done as Xeriscapes  or even Zeroscapes; 
• Some designs require less maintenance than other garden/landscape styles;
• A design style that works well with native grasses and trees; and 
• Koi are used in aquaponic systems, so a koi pond that is part of a Japanese garden can be leveraged to help grow food.

To reap these rewards and include a Japanese garden in your landscape, visit www.JapaneseLandscapes.com.

Japanese Garden at the Manito Gardens
in Spokane, Washington

Features & Benefits of Japanese Garden Design

Japanese gardens are rooted in meaning, history, religion, and nature.  They promote balance and harmony and require careful consideration during the design process to create a garden that touches your spirit, reveals your style, and enhances your outdoor living.

Open space, natural, and water elements are essential in every Japanese garden design.  Here less is more.  By not overcrowding the garden and filling every space with plants, you make peaceful, calming areas that encourage thought, reflection, and rejuvenation.  Natural facets help to connect one with nature and water, such as a bowl of water for purity, or design elements that symbolize water, reflect the passage of time.

Japanese gardens epitomize understated elegance.  Few garden accents are needed, but popular accents such as lanterns and bridges quickly showcase the design style and can enhance the overall look.  However, they are not required elements.

A well designed Japanese garden or landscape should feel like a private sanctuary where you are surrounded and embraced by nature.  The design should incorporate natural screening and sounds to block out noises and visual elements that might otherwise detract from the serenity of the garden.

If you are looking for a beautiful, tranquil place to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, a Japanese garden or landscape may serve you well.  When you are ready to get started, contact Brian Kashima, the Owner of Island Landscape, to learn more and benefit his valuable expertise and 30+ years of experience as a Japanese gardener and landscaper. 

Or, if you are interested in helping us build a beautiful Japanese garden at The Aloha Garden of Maui, in Kula, Maui, Hawaii, you can support this effort by purchasing a garden brick here.

Japanese Garden at The Manito Gardens in
Spokane, Washington

Make Your Garden Stand Out with Art

Big, bold art adds interest and intrigue to your garden.  It can be abstract and thought provoking or themed to match the style of a particular garden, such as Asian (as seen in the picture of the horse statue below).  In this example, the horse statue alone has an Asian feel for those familiar with the style, but it could merely reflect that the owner likes this particular piece or horses. Combined with the Japanese lantern, however, it is clear that it is part of an Asian garden.  What is your garden style? Would a large statue or piece of art make your garden more impressive?

Art, it does a garden good!

1, 2, 3, 4 Easy Steps for Great Garden Decor

Create a large garden focal point in four easy steps.  Step one, purchase a big, beautiful ceramic pot in a color and design that fits your garden. Step 2, obtain numerous stocks of bamboo, taller than the pot, in widths of an inch to two inches wide, to fill about half of the pot opening when bunched together. Step 3, purchase gravel or rock to fill pot the bottom third of the pot and add weight after the bamboo is put in.  Step 4, assemble in the same order.  Put it all together and what have you got? One simple, but exquisitely decorated pot.

Elegant & Simple Pot Design

Garden Design: Side Yard Ideas - Part 3 of a 3 Part Story

Here we are, the final post, Post 3/3 of this side yard design series.  In Post 1 we looked at two sample side yard design roughs. In Post 2 we compared them with the home's style.  Now, here in Post 3 we look at the side yard design with the home's style and the overall landscape design.  The picture below shows the landscape design that the client selected for their front yard.  Given this and the style of their home, they preferred Design 2 for the side yard.  While a Pagoda-style gazebo had initially been envisioned, they recognized that it clashed a bit with the home's style and that the Pergola design and plantings worked well with the rest of their planned landscape.

Preferred Side Yard Based on Home Style & Overall Landscape Design

Garden Design: Side Yard Ideas - Part 2 of a 3 Part Story

This is Post 2/3 of side yard design considerations.  In Post 1/3 the the client's initial comments were taken into account and two quick designs roughs were created for the side yard area.  If you only looked at the side yard area in Post 1 and considered the two designs, you would likely choose the one that meets the design style you prefer.  However, in this post, we also consider the style of the existing home that this side yard belongs to.

Side Yard Designs Considered with Home Design

Please visit us again tomorrow for the final post in this three-part design series.

Garden Design: Side Yard Ideas - Part 1 of a 3 Part Story

This is a three part design story for a side yard that showcases design considerations, including blending with the surrounding landscape.  This is Post 1/3, all based on a few design roughs to help the clients consider different options.

Here is the background. The client's home is located in a drought area, so water conservation is important, but the client also wants a green lawn for their side yard.  They want a design with minimal plants to help conserve water, especially since the lawn is important to them.  And, with the home near the ocean, they need a lawn and plants that are salt tolerant.  One of the owners, who appreciates Asian design, would like a Pagoda-style gazebo to relax in and enjoy their ocean view. The other is open to different styles and options.

These two quick design roughs for the side yard were created to get the ball rolling on design ideas for the area and outdoor seating.

Side Yard Ideas with a Pagoda Gazebo & Pergola Option

Please visit us again tomorrow for Post 2/3.

Top 10 Reasons to Include A Koi Pond In Your Garden

I love koi and have a koi pond at home. They are so much fun to watch, do not take much work, and are excited to see me when I come to feed them. There are many other benefits too, including these:

Top 10 Reasons to Include A Koi Pond In Your Garden

1. Adds beauty and serenity to your life
2. Koi make terrific pets
3. More and more doctors are reporting health benefits from koi ponds
4. Watching koi is relaxing
5. The sound of gently moving water is soothing
6. Tending a koi pond makes a great hobbie
7. A koi pond is an attractive and popular feature for your garden
8. It gives your garden or landscape a natural feel
9. Saves on watering as koi ponds take less water than grass or other plants that would otherwise occupy the same space
10. Increases your home’s value 

Koi Pond in Tropical/Asian Influenced Landscape in Maui, Hawaii

Garden View at the Hyatt Regency Maui

Resorts have spectacular landscapes and gardens and are great places for gathering new ideas.  This is an ocean view at sunset from the Japanese garden at the Hyatt Regency Maui.

Japanese Garden at the Hyatt Regency Maui

Great Garden Ideas for Side Yards

Turn plain side yards into treasured gardens.  Incorporate landscaping to take them from old to new; to improve the look so you don't feel blue.  But, wait, there's more, we have a bonus for you.  Improvements such as these increase your home value too!

Here are two examples to illustrate this point from an inspired Japanese garden landscape in Maui, Hawaii, courtesy of Island Landscape who created these beautiful spaces to meet the owners' living and design style.

Garden Design: Decorating A Garden Can Be As Easy As One Piece

Adding one accent to a garden can make a world of difference.  In the picture below, without the statue, one would see rocks and greenery.  It could be a garden almost anywhere and there is no distinctive style.  With the statue, you add an Asian flair.  This simple, elegant element adds character and says Japanese garden.

Japanese Garden in Iao Valley, Maui, Hawaii