How to find balance and harmony at home with a Japanese-style garden

When the dizzying pace of everyday life palls, time spent in a garden designed to create balance and harmony between every element and aesthetic is a balm for the spirit.

Japanese gardens, once only seen in Australia in public domains, are increasingly making an appearance in super-luxurious homes, as well as influencing the creation of landscaped spaces.

At award-winning Kihara Landscapes, the services of third-generation designer Motoyoshi Kihara are in high demand with clients in Melbourne’s east.

Garden installations range from modern to very traditional, but all aim to exude beauty and serenity, day and night, in all seasons.

Moto, as he is known to his clients, talks about his gardens having “two faces” –  the day look and the night look, says partner Bridget Kihara.

“The garden at night, highlighted by strategically positioned uplights, is like an elegant lady going out for the evening, just as beautiful as during the day but somewhat more mysterious,” she says.

Maple trees are hand-selected for their balance of colour and shape and regularly trimmed; bamboo is used as a natural wind chime, catching the calming sound of gently moving leaves in the garden; and every rock is carefully considered and placed.

“Moto also likes to incorporate water where possible, as the sounds of either a small stream or a traditional water pot made of carved stone – a mizubachi – are relaxing and soothing,” Bridget says.

Hard elements such as specially commissioned Japanese-style sliding timber gates may also be included – and stepping stones that are positioned to accommodate the individual stride of the home owner.

“Less is more, however,” she says. “Moto avoids overcrowding and clutter and, while the garden tells its own story, it also connects and compliments the home.”

Crowned landscaper of the year in 2022 at the Landscape Association’s Excellence Awards, Sydney-based Adam Robinson finds it is the Zen feel of Japanese gardens that his clients are looking to incorporate at their homes.

Influences that feature in his designs include islands that dissect different areas or levels; stone paving that Robinson intersects with different grasses to soften edges and blur hard shapes; stone stairs that transition to different areas like a bridge; and running water or a deep pond beneath trees.

“You may have a garden where grasses create beautiful shadowing on the ground or there could be a water feature that allows us to rest our eyes,” he says.

“The nicest sound to live with is the trickle of water coming down a wall, or bubbling up and over an urn.

“With stress and anxiety on the rise, clients want to create a feeling of tranquillity in the garden.”

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