Is there anything I can add or do to this to make it look more like a Japanese Garden. I'm stuck on what plants to add and the shape of the overall bed. So far I have 3 maples placed in a straight line. That might be problem 1. Doesn't look "natural" as tree don't grow like this in nature. Maybe I can add some boulders and some complimentary plants?
@vbx, boulders and water are always a must in the Japanese style garden. But in your circumstances less is more IMO. Three or five carefully placed LARGE rocks would be enough for that area to give the look you are looking for. Remember odd numbers is the way with this. I have also copied a link for you to watch, which I think maybe useful to you. Hope this is of help.
I'm posting some photos of a (maybe co-op) building in my densely populated neighbourhood with a garden that I always think was designed to suggest a Japanese garden. Here is what it looked like in May, with an "island" of Ajuga around some boulders, with a few ferns, a Hinoki cypress - Chamaecyparis obtusa (I think), I think an azalea, with a Magnolia seyboldii and a rhododendron in the background. Here is what it looks like today, with all the colour gone (except for the purple Ajuga leaves, and the Astilbe in the next little island, but the texture is still very nice.
Beautiful colors. wow. Love the large boulder too. Thanks for the photos and the names of all those plants. Very helpful!
