Building a Japanese-Inspired Garden

The before and the after of a new garden

Today we ’re off to Canada , call with Bas Suharto . We ’ve seen Bas ’s home gardenbefore , but today ’s garden is one that Bas created for a friend .

At the end of summertime , I visit the garden I design and built for a fellow worker in Orleans , Ontario . I design it in 2019 after seeing her front yard as just a lawn , and one that was not well-fixed to maintain . I proposed a garden idea that was a bit like a “ Japanese - style garden ” with gravel .

The before moving-picture show shows just a basic , boring front yard , with circle of labor required to keep it pout .

Bas make this drawing to show the plan transformation .

Here ’s a new planting jump to take shape .

For gravel , Bas used 3/8 - column inch river - wash stones . Bas finds that it is easy to remove fallen leaves from small gravel .

In the last garden , creeping thyme ( Thymuspraecox , zone 5–8 ) have a beautiful and functional land cover . The dense foliage keeps out weeds , and the flower display is wonderful .

The Japanese stone lantern makes an centre - get centerpiece .

Even out of bloom , the creeping thyme is a pretty ground covering that sets off the other plants .

Cleome ( Cleomehassleriana , annual ) is a vigorous , grandiloquent annual that is well spring up from seed and makes quite the statement in this garden .

Red wax begonias ( Begoniasemperflorens , yearly ) bring color all summer , while the tall feather reed grass ( Calamgrostis‘Karl Foerster ’ , Zones 5–7 ) has a tallness that facilitate define the space and screen out out neighbor views .

My colleague utilise colluses of the leaves of the perilla works ( Perillafrutescens , yearly ) , called shisoin Japanese , to make Japanese shiso juice . The foliage is also quite beautiful !

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