 Let's have a go at designing Japanese gardens, using the elements that we learn in part one. Here we have an aerial view of the backyard. The first thing we must do is side analysis, to learn about the site so we can design professionally. If you haven't seen my side analysis tutorial, I strongly recommend watching it to aid your designs. From site analysis, we have identified a large steep hill to the side of the site, a few different access points, a cool moist climate and some leftover vegetation, which we will remove because they are not traditional Japanese plants and would look out of place. The first thing we should do when designing gardens is to consider the functionality of the site. A garden is only successful if it gets used and people are only going to use it if it functions properly. This means we have to decide on the human circulation through out the site and arrange viewpoints which we know are important to Japanese gardens. True to Japanese gardens, I'm including winding paths that create a sense of exploration and mystery in the site. These paths interconnect and also lead to a important access point. The paths lead up to steep hill and logic tells us that this would be a good spot for a viewpoint so I'm going to situate it here. I'm going to draw my lines of vision from this point to other parts of the site and do the same for a different viewpoint. Now we have our lines of vision and circulation mapped out, we can design the site around it. This means don't plant shrubs on a path and don't plant screening trees in a line of vision. Remember your functionality. Now we have our functionality organized, it's time to put things into the garden. To get the natural feel that Japanese gardens aspire to, we shall design in this order. Nature, hard skates, vegetation, extras. This step includes using natural features such as hills, boulders and water. A good tip for Japanese gardens is to utilize the existing nature. If you have a naturally existing rockery, don't rip it out, use it. In this case we have a nice hill to work with which we will scatter large boulders around. Arrange these irregularly and make sure that you bury them two thirds underground in order to get a natural feel. In the north of the site we will dig a pond and once again arrange boulders surrounding. With the leftover soil we can create small hills, roughly 50 centimetres tall for a bit of variation. And now we have three hills on the site. First up we must consider what happens as you leave the bector of the house. What do you see out of the beck windows? I've decided to create a small wall with dry garden. This space will have boardwalks surrounding crushed granite pools, representing oceans, and three buried boulders representing islands at sea. The boardwalks will be one and two metres wide for pedestrian access. The granite will be combed with the interesting pattern and the end product will look something like this. The space will be grey and unique with little vegetation. There will be a bench seat for relaxation and the rest of the world will be shut out with the use of natural feeling a doby wall. The walls will have openings however, along the lines of view and in a sense, borrow the surrounding landscape for view from within the earth. This out the room will be a transitional space leading to the more wild and vegetated garden beyond. In the north of the site we have a viewpoint and obviously we want this to be an interesting view. So on this point why don't we situate an elevated tea house and a bridge sitting peacefully over the pond. That would make a fantastic view that would tempt people to explore the back of the site from the world garden. Also this tea house would help to obscure some of the water which as we know is a common practice in Japanese gardens. I will use natural feeling wooden staircases roughly one metre wide to grab the help. Notice the use of a whining staircase to create a more interesting transition from the wall garden to the hill and I will use irregularly placed wooden sleepers and stone pavers like in many Japanese gardens in order to slow people down and embrace the site. The vegetation of this Japanese garden will be pretty simple and natural. There are only two main concepts I will be working on and the rest is more just feeling at the garden. The first is creating a bamboo forest corridor. I'm situating this around the first exit to the world garden. It will contain densely packed tall Japanese bamboo creating a dense forest on the existing hills I have created. The end result will be a simple and effective transitional corridor from the unique world garden to the more wild surroundings. Notice how the planting of the bamboo forest doesn't impinge on the line of vision. The second concept is simply introducing some iconic Japanese planting and interesting seasonal colors with the Japanese cherry and Japanese maple. The colors of these plants will look fantastic in the natural garden. In this view it may appear that Japanese cherries are impinging on the lines of vision. However, the canopies of these trees will be high enough that a framed view will be preserved. To fill out the rest of the garden I've used a variety of irregularly placed shrubs of varying sizes around the hill and pond and some ornamental cloud burning in the world garden. It's important to place the plants irregularly in order to get a natural feel, making sure we respect the lines of vision and circulation parts. I've left a large patch in the middle with no plants and this is done to allow for a grass patch. As we can see this is a densely packed site and leaving an open grass area can help to prevent a cramped site. Especially after just emerging from the dense bamboo forest. To complete the vegetation I've decided to add moss to the rock area to counter its harshness and some lilies to the pond. Lastly let's add some final touches with some benches for relaxation and Japanese stone lanterns for ornament. You may also wish to add other features such as wells, miniature towers and washbasins. So there we go, now we have the design for a professional peaceful Japanese garden. Remember to follow this order and you will not only get a Japanese looking garden but an authentic one too. What analysis, functionality, nature, hardscapes, vegetation, extras.