Japanese garden with gravel patterns and Japanese maple

Japanese garden designs

Gravel, moss, water and carefully placed stones form the essence of the Japanese garden. Japanese maples, ferns and hostas bring peace and balance to this contemplative garden style.

Design your japanese garden

Characteristic plants

Red and green palmate leaves of a Japanese maple in an autumn gardenTrees

Acer palmatum

Japanese Maple

The Japanese maple is a graceful tree or large shrub with deeply lobed, palmate leaves that turn spectacular shades of red, orange, or gold in autumn. Its elegant growth habit makes it a focal point in any garden. Hundreds of cultivars exist, from compact and rounded to broad and spreading.

Partial shadeMedium200–800 cm
Large blue-green hosta leaves in a shaded gardenPerennials

Hosta sieboldiana

Hosta

Hosta is the quintessential shade plant, valued for its large, blue-green, ribbed leaves. Light purple or white bell-shaped flowers appear on tall stems in July and August. Over the years the plant forms substantial clumps that give a shaded border a lush character.

Full shadeMedium50–90 cm
Finely divided green fronds of the soft shield fern in a shady borderFerns

Polystichum setiferum

Soft Shield Fern

The soft shield fern is an elegant, evergreen fern with finely divided, soft green fronds that arch gracefully outwards. The plant forms a beautiful rosette and fits perfectly in shady borders and woodland gardens. Mature specimens can reach up to 120 centimetres across.

Partial shadeMedium

Other garden styles

moderncottagemediterraneanwildtropicalformalminimalist