Create a Japanese Garden in Your Backyard

Who doesn’t love visiting Japanese gardens? If you’ve never been, you should visit one soon. Or just make your own. Create a Japanese garden in your backyard without a lot of money and time.

When your project is complete you’ll have a space you can be proud of and will never want to leave! Use the basic components we have listed to create your Japanese garden.

If you are working with a big yard, divide the yard into small sections and work on one section at a time.

You’ll find the interesting pieces of these oriental gardens such as stone, sand and water easy to manage. So don’t worry that you won’t have time for maintenance.

Japanese Tea Gardens

Tea gardens are also called roji. They are thoughtful, peaceful and made for strolling. The roji tea garden has a serious of thresholds or arches. This is intended to make the person visiting the tea garden feel as if they have taken a journey from home.

You could start your tea garden path with simple paving stones and finish with a small covered area with benches for sitting.

Along the pathway no matter how long or short, you should have a bench for sitting and listening. Japanese tea gardens are easy to recreate in your backyard.

Zen Gardens

These minimalist gardens are fun to create. You could create a sand garden. This is a simple area anywhere from 2 feet to 4 feet or higher that is lined with stone but must be made perfectly square. The center of the area is filled with clean sand. Also in the sand garden will be lava rocks or stones.

To bring a sense of peace to the garden small Zen rakes are used to move the sand around creating images and lines of harmony. Another part of a Zen garden would be including the elements of fire or water.

Japanese fire pits can be small or larger with copper cups for holding the fire elements. Water features are as varied as the plants you could use. Simple bubbling fountains are perfect as are the larger Koi ponds.

Flora and Fauna

Popular plants used in Japanese gardens are bonsai. These are not a tree type but rather a tree design. Similar to topiaries, bonsai can be local plants like azaleas who have been clipped into the bonsai style.

This style is miniature and carefully cultivated. Just one or two bonsai in your garden can add a wonderful oriental feel to the area. Evergreen trees are a needed part of your garden. Also use lots of gravel and stone for your lawn.

The flora and fauna of this type of garden is controlled and very in harmony with one another.