Zen Garden
Other people call this style Zen gardens because they are meant for contemplation. This garden style originated in Japan at the same time Zen Buddhism started to become more popular around 1300 AC.
Japanese gardens tend to be minimalist, monochromatic and well-trimmed. Not straight lines like in Formal gardens, but rather round or smoothly in and out shapes. Since the purpose of creating this garden style is for contemplation, relaxation and meditation, every element brought into the design has to be in alignment with this philosophy. These gardens are meant to connect visually but not physically. Japanese gardens calm your senses.
Like English gardens, they are meant to be around your home. This garden style wants to replicate the mountains and rivers seeing in the beautiful natural landscapes in Asia but at a small, intimate scale. Every element brought to Japanese gardens has a meaning. These elements have to be well curated and carefully placed. Boulders represent mountains, raked white sands represent rivers and waves from the ocean, bridges mean connection between the earthly world and the spiritual earth, islands symbolize of longevity and health, water basins are used for ritual cleansing and the round trimmed bushes provide smoothness and calm to your senses. Sound is
something not to forget when planning these gardens. You can achieve this by incorporating soft running water or planting bamboo (its leaves produce a soft, crackling sound when wind passes by). Water also represents life-giving force.
Other garden elements to consider are stone lanterns, color red (denotes strength, strong emotions, vitality, power). Plants mostly used in Japanese gardens are cherry trees, Japanese maples, pines, Yaupon hollies, bamboo, azaleas, camelias, hydrangeas, water lilies, mosses among others.
do you like Japanese Maples? They can look really cool with an uplight at night.