In Yorkshire we are lucky to have several gardens designed using the theme of a Himalayan Garden. The Hut near Ripon at Grewlthorpe is  ‘The Himalayan Garden’ with all the plants you would expect in such a setting including
01.08.2023 - 14:39 / gardenerstips.co.uk / hortoris
Holland Park has some Zen like features but fails my Zen test. The classic elements of a successful Zen are stone, sand or gravel, water, plants and space. Then there is a question of balance between yin and yang. Cramped or cluttered gardens inhibit the flow of spirit so space is potentially the key ingredient of a Zen garden.
Stone is a solid yang element to be contrasted to the yin of raked gravel and or water. Stones have personality and should be placed carefully. Plants are not intended to be functional but are integral to the yang of design. Dry gardens replace water with gravel sometimes with stepping stones inset
In Holland Park London not far from Notting Hill is a peaceful Japanese garden. There are numerous features that can inspire your own plans although I draw the line at bringing in a dozen Peacocks to my plot.
One feature I took note of was the beach effect for this pond. It allows birds and invertebrates easy access to the waters edge. Being in the process of installing another pond in my own garden I have built in a beach not dissimilar to this. I bought some butyl line with shingle already attached and shaped it to run down into a preformed pond. Needless to say my attempts are a miniature version of this pond which reflects the spectacular features surrounding the water.
The Fish are too large to need to Duck but that comment was dropped in for my amusement. It shows what can be achieved with a large pond area.
Further Information from the Borough of Kensington. ‘Holland Park is spread across 54 acres of what used to be the grounds of Cope Castle, a large Jacobean mansion hidden in the woods. It was built by Sir Walter Cope in the early 17th century, who became Chancellor of the Exchequer under King
In Yorkshire we are lucky to have several gardens designed using the theme of a Himalayan Garden. The Hut near Ripon at Grewlthorpe is  ‘The Himalayan Garden’ with all the plants you would expect in such a setting including
Features to Expect in a Japanese Garden
The Japanese poetic work, ‘Manyoshu’ published in 759 AD but written 300-400 years prior selected 7 flowers for Autumn. This corresponds to the 7 Herbs of spring reported on an earlier post.
Ornamental Japanese Maples are widely available for planting in your garden. The autumn colouring makes these trees spectacular when planted en mass in a woodland or Japanese garden setting.
Now part of this garden is down to crazy paving the Qualcast grass box is needed less and can be put to a different use. It looks like a ‘unibarrow’ has got in on the act to make a feature planter for these pansies.
Ants can be an unsightly nuisance and inspire concern. However they do not directly damage plants but are more a sign that you have another pest problem.
A rock garden is a grand place to display your alpine plants. You can shade them with rocks, provide deep root runs and provide rain cover with perspex roofs
White is the second most useful colour in the garden after green. I am progressively increasing the number and variety of white and grey plants that I grow.
Despite my garden being full to overflowing after the spring rain I have decided to create a new area for a Japanese Garden. When starting a new project I was advised to have a name that may colour the end result. I opted for the grand title of ‘Japan Land’Â This will be a long term project and I won’t rush it as I have on other projects in the past.
London Holland Park’s water feature in Kyoto Garden.
Britain has some of the best gardens in the world. The choice of which to visit is far larger than this selective list but at least it gives you somewhere to start planning this years outings.
In the cold wet winter it is a good time to plan where to visit as the year improves. The South West is the obvious place to start your visiting tour of gardens containing exotic plants.