We don’t often do Japanese gardens, but this project on West end Richmond near St. Christopher School was great fun. It had a great blend of stone, plants, and wood that made it work. We really hit the “Wow” factor with this one!

Our client had the vision of a low maintenance, easy to care for garden with an oriental flair.  We all had a tough time getting past her overgrown liriope, large weeds, tons of unevenly laid slate, and dense dark shade.

Stone work included incorporated adding a lower level terrace to her existing cement patio using Asian bluestone .We stained her existing cement patio to match her new terrace. We lay her inventory of black slate in small river stone pebbles around the berm. The same pebbles are in front of the berm to play with and rake in large sweeps.  Small boulders are a great addition to many landscapes we redesign. You can see how powerful they can be in these pictures.  They create great nooks and crannies in which to tuck a fern or hosta.

Wood accents include a unique but simple pergola custom designed and made to her space to help give her privacy.

Plant- wise the picture shows pachysandra in the beamed area. The pictures do not show as well how we utilized her Japanese maple tree and her inventory of English boxwoods, hostas and hellebores that were scattered throughout her yard. Additional autumn ferns, sarcacocca, chino viburnum and carex grasses really gave her the leaf texture and color she needed.

We gave her suggestions down to the nitty gritty on the type of pot needed for her weeping yaupon accent against her wood fence.  And as a final touch, we bought and set up the hoses, sprinklers and splitters necessary for watering effectively.

Check out these before and after pictures the owner sent me, then come play with us.

Before

After

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Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.