2 Ways To Add Some Tranquil Japanese Style To Your Garden
Japanese style is best known for its simple elegance, its respect of tradition and its dedication to pleasing the senses. For these reasons, people all around the world are incorporating elements of Japanese style into their homes and gardens. If you'd like to create a tranquil, graceful and exotic feel to your home's garden, there here are two simple and inexpensive things that you might like to consider.
1. Copper rain chains
Rain chains originated in Japan many centuries ago and are still a common feature in modern Japanese homes. They're also becoming an increasingly popular addition in homes across America. Essentially, rain chains are a series of copper links that replace a traditional downpipe to deliver water from your gutter to the ground or a water collection vessel.
Rain chains are almost exclusively made of copper. Copper is naturally impervious to rust, although it will develop a delightful blue-green patina as it ages. It's also an environmentally friendly material that won't leach toxins or chemicals into your garden.
Copper rain chains are beautiful, and they make a charming and unique feature to your home. The sound that is produced as the water trickles or flows through the links is also wonderful for adding harmony and natural tranquility to your garden. It's a wonderful choice to help dim the unwanted sounds of neighbors or traffic.
2. Japanese inspired plants
Adding some traditional Japanese style plants is another excellent way to get an authentic and elegant look in your garden. Fortunately, there are many different types of traditional Japanese plants that are readily available from plant nurseries around the country.
Bamboo is an iconic Japanese plant that comes in many different varieties. It also grows very rapidly and makes a great privacy screen as well as filtering outside noise. If you have a limited amount of space in your garden, choose an appropriate variety that won't quickly take over your entire garden.
Bonsai trees are another well-known Japanese style plant that is ideal to use in a small courtyard garden or as a centerpiece for an outdoor dining table. Bonsais take a fair amount of specialized care, so only choose them if you're able to devote some time and patience to their upkeep.
For a larger plant, a Japanese Maple is a wonderful choice. Their large, ornate leaves provide a spectacular show of color as they change in the Fall. They will grow happily to a decent size in a large pot and will grow to a commanding height if you'd prefer to plant them in the ground.