Oriental garden

you can get evergreen bamboos for starters, some yellow stemmed as well as black. japanese quinces [chaemoneles?] that flower in the spring deciduous though. then for flowers late summer into autumn the japanese anenomes take some beating. there are also a lot of ferms that are evergreen and will cope in the norfolk climate. wisteria, some rhodedendrons/azelea are typically oriental as are tree paeonies.

are you sure you want to lose your veggie patch though? you have worked so hard on it.

We were on holiday in Monaco one year and, near the famous tunnel under the hotel, there was a fabulous Japanese garden. I know they are all raked stone with slabs sticking up here and there, but it was very peaceful, I was going to suggest a small raked stone area not too big and incorporated around an arbour maybe?

DON'T DO IT...... I can't bare to watch an innocent veggie patch being destroyed.........sob sob.....Only joking Mookins. I think it will make an excellent quiet place to sit with a book after the morning rush hour Lol.

You do have one plant there that I don't think fits in with the 'peaceful' theme and thats the Codius Delicii. I really would suggest removing that particular specimin and put it into a growbag for about the next 10 to 15 years........ :~))

Looks as if the area is roughly 8 feet by 12, assuming your fence panels are 6 feet wide, not sure where the bottom stroke of the L occurs, reversed or otherwise - correct me if I'm wrong! With a little girl as well amongst the veggies! Is it at the bottom of your garden? and do you still want to keep a spot there for placing garden cuttings/composting?

Very irritating I can't send you a drawing, but I'll try to explain what I suggest - not saying you'll like it though!
I'd plant Cotinus coggrygia Royal Purple in the bit between the shed and the fence - it'll take up most of that space, so needs planting more or less in the middle (also means you can keep an area up the back for garden prunings, etc, if you want). Imagine you're now standing facing the fence running from the greenhouse to the left, (shed on your left). More or less at the end of the shed, but on the opposite side, near the back fence I'd put Fatsia japonica - in front of that, near the corner of the shed, I'd put Brachyglottis. To the right, I'd erect a trellis section all the way along the side of the greenhouse - up that, I'd plant Fatshedera lizeii about 2/3 feet from the back fence to be supported by the trellis, together with Passifloria about 3/4 feet further down (nearer the front of the greenhouse). Up against the back fence, between the Fatsia and the greenhouse, I'd plant Crinodendron hookerianum (good wall shrub, evergreen). In front of that and slightly to the right, I'd plant Acer palmatum "Crimson Queen". In between these shrubs I'd place things like Crocosmia "Lucifer", Verbena patagonica, anything that gets tall and thin with flowers. Then you've got the space between the Brachyglottis and the Acer coming forward - this I'd fill with things like Cotula hispida, Psuedarmeria at the front, with fairly low growing things that flower, preferably, behind, like, say Spiraea Goldflame between the Acer and the Brachyglottis, (for its yellow leaves and flowers), and Helianthemums, Ophiopogon nigrescens Hebe youngii, Heucheras nearer the trellis for a bit of shade. Don't know if you'll be able to picture it or not, and it may not be what you want anyway. also, if its not as big as I think it is, you might have to choose between the fatsia and the crinodendron!

new things going on jen, sounds great and cant wait to see how you get on, good luck x

have drawn a plan Bamboo and marked what you have said, sounds pretty good, will just look up the names to see what they are like, def inatly going to have another Acer. How did you know I was thinking of having a composter down this area? spooky

SBG Ive been looking at the japanese quinces and the bamboos think they are a definate must have, but thats about as oriental as I got. Veggie patch must go, ive tried it, liked it but got bored of it too quickly.

Bob most of the end area is already stones so this could be a very good idea, with various shrubs and things planted around!!

didnt realise Cody had got into the pciture she must have walked in as I snapped, she was trying to catch cabbage butterflies for the Chameleons lunch shudder

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so exciting Sanbaz typical me wants it done yesterday though hehehehe

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Good luck Jen. Bamboo and Sbg have certainly given you something for your brain to work on. Erm...where are you going to put the daylilies?

The daylilies my darling BBB
will be out the front for all to see

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Ian you are so true about this little grub I mean shrub, although the growbag is not needed a straight jacket and gag would be good though hehehe
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lol jen i know exactly what you mean, im so impatient to, you having a japanese bridge, that would be lovely

may have to entice hubby to make one, I have looked them up and well out of my price league, plus need huubby to do more in the gardening hopefully like another fellow GOYer he will give up smoking then (and spend that money on the garden hehehehehe

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that would be great jen, yes they are very expensive, we also are thinking of quitting the weeds,,, so hard but a waste of money as well as not good for our health, good luck x

Daylilies can be in front and slightly to the left of the Acer, with spiraea behind and slightly to the left of that.... and I knew because it's obvious - we all want somewhere to dump woody bits that take ages to rot down... preferably out of sight!

I was thinking perhaps if you left your little Codius Delicii to mature then it would be out of the way until it could earn a living for itself............ :~))

also an excellent plan hehehe

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Your plans sound lovely Mookins!
If only my wee plot was big enough to incorporate a meditation area! Mind you, my garden isnt private enough, as anyone who looked at the photos will see!
Good luck with it!
Marie

Em....... Bamboo, couldn't you do the drawing & scan it in as a photo?

You beat me by two clicks of a mouse with that one Madperth. Great minds think alike............ :~))

And fools seldom differ, Ian! Lol! ;~))

Hhmm....Oriental garden. Well, plenty of food for thought from just about everyone! But....
Having worked in Japan for 10 years, and seen so many of their exceptional temple gardens ( there's no space in a city as over populated as Tokyo for private gardens ) I'm a bit cynical about trying to recreate something so alien ( though fashionable ) into our culture. I've seen the Japanese attempting to make an 'English Cottage garden' in their public parks and spaces and it just looks silly....I can't help thinking an 'oriental' garden would have them giving the identical response and laughing out loud.
Gardens reflect culture, and history, and the sociology and psyche of a nation. Japanese or 'oriental' gardens in Britain can end up looking like theme parks. But if you really want to go there....

...there is no colour in a real Japanese garden, except green and acer-purple.....and it's mostly clipped to within an inch of it's life, looks immaculate, and takes up your entire life in maintenance! Dayglo pink azaleas are permitted, but only along roadsides and on the approach to Narita airport. And, of course, in the froth of sakura ( cherry blossom ) in every park each April, their favourite flower, transient, delicate, breathtaking, symbol of their young dead, the Kamikaze pilots of WW2.....see what I mean about the psychology of a nation?

....there is very little or no scent in a Japanese garden. Scent to the Japanese, is vulgar. Many flowers bred there have the aroma bred out, so as not to offend the olfactory sense ( trust me, I was an aromatheray teacher there.....and boy, was it hard work! lol )

...what we in the West think of as Oriental gardens have absolutely NO bearing on the genuine article. Nothing we can do in Britain can come close to the perfection, tranquillity and spirituality you will find in the gardens of a Buddhist Temple or Shinto shrine. Gardening, in this sense, the process of creation, ever-ongoing, IS the meditation, and the path and means to spitituality. Making a garden in which to then sit and gaze at your belly-button is getting it completely wrong.

God, I'm a windy b----r tonight!

So....yes, an acer in a pretty ceramic tub, a small stand of bamboo, and a water 'feature' ( see Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' Part 1 for the best choice! ), a lot of finely raked pebbles, a rock or two, carefully placed, and you've got it! Less, most definitely, is more. Avoid, at all costs, planting anything and everything called 'Japanese.....' whether it be a weeping cherry, a chaenomeles ( quince ) or even the lovely anemone. The only place you'll find such things in a REAL Japanese garden is woven into a kimono!

And no bridges.....PLEASE!

aah the voice of experience. Thanks for the info Bscott
but unfortunatly having got both KillBill dvds the water feature is a no no the noise would be water torture.

I love the chaemoneles and have think I may of already ordered a weeping cherry.

If I had the time or sat still that long I would be asleep and cant remember the last time I had time like that for myself so agree with the whole meditation thing.

Will see how it looks once the plants arrive and are temporarily placed, if it looks too busy will remove

so excited

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Well I'm just putting in the plants I like, couldn't do the minimalist thing (I dont do tidy!) and I agree that the creation of the garden is the meditation, but I still find it easier to carry out puja (prayers, for want of a better translation) and structured meditations now that I have a garden I can relax in.
I think your oriental space will look fantastic Mookins!