Capture that feeling in a bottle and bring it home with you. This is the feeling you want in a Japanese-inspired garden.
The gardens are often designed around a courtyard for contemplation. There might be a water feature here, perhaps a fishpond with Japanese irises, a simple bench seat, a specimen tree - Japanese maple and cherry are favourites - and the meaningful placement of stones surrounded by fine gravel.
A path might lead in and out of this space with flagstones staggered so the visitor experiences a journey through the garden.
Japanese and Chinese gardens can be found throughout New Zealand.
Some have been gifted by sister cities. As New Zealanders we have an affinity with other Pacific Rim cultures and there are strong ties, historically, too.
Asian inspiration given an edible twist
Gardens in Southeast Asia, including Bali, Thailand and Singapore, have a more tropical flavour.
Think lush edibles such as banana palms and pawpaw, passionfruit, bamboo, taro, lotus ponds, plus other fascinating fruit we can't grow here such as dragonfruit and rambutan - yum.
Permaculture has its origins in the productive food systems of these countries. Food crops are managed in natural cycles, with animals a part of this system. Water chestnuts and lotus can be grown for ornamental value and food production in a water feature.
Fish will add interest and boost the fertility of your pond ecosystem.
I would love to give rice-growing a go. If you're interested, check out a fascinating YouTube video of Professor Yoshimasa Sakurai successfully growing rice in Kaiwaka, north of Auckland. The Koanga Institute sometimes has Yoshi's rice seed for sale. The main challenge with rice growing is getting your harvest hulled. En masse this tall grass could be dramatic in a contemporary garden design - a minimalist palette and productive, too.
Ecological hard-landscaping
Earth and tiles: Beautiful mud walls, or neribei, are often seen on outer grounds of temples and country houses in Japan. They are about 35cm thick and embedded with roof tiles and thin stones.
In the Kuyushu province these historic walls are known as hakata-bei, and are built with mud and the remnants of clay roof tiles and stones from the battlefields after clan wars. They are an elegant, refined re-use of materials and the ultimate in natural hard landscaping.
Rammed earth can be used in landscaping to make retaining walls, feature walls and even raised vege beds.
Raised beds of rammed earth require the correct mix of 70 per cent sand, 30 per cent clay and a small amount of cement, plus good drainage and concrete footings to stop water getting in.
Versatile bamboo: Using bamboo as a material in landscaping has long been associated with Japanese gardens and is common throughout Asia.
Mark Mortimer, from Bambusero, makes elegant fences and gates with the material. We're about to build a sliding driveway gate for our community allotments with a timber frame fitted with bamboo panels.
In countries where bamboo is used for building permanent structures it is smoke-cured for durability and soaked in seawater for a month to prevent future insect damage.
The bamboo water feature shishi odoshi (deer-scarers) will add movement and sound to your garden - just avoid setting it up outside your neighbour's bedroom window.
Beauty in the detail: Special knotting techniques are the key to making beautiful bamboo features.
The care and shaping of trees and shrubs is an art form in Japan, where bamboo, rope binding, and stone weights are used to support or shape trees.
A horticulturist friend visiting Japan was amazed to see even the tallest street trees were carefully pruned in an idealistic natural form. They managed to grow trees in tricky areas between tall city buildings in this way. It is not surprising that Asian gardens are a continuing source of inspiration for designers throughout the world.
