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Step 1
Simplify your design. According to Horton, simplicity to the Japanese is the distillation of nature to its essence. This means creating more complexity with fewer rocks, plants and water ways while allowing the viewer to fill in the missing elements.
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Step 2
Separate the garden from the outside world. Through the use of trees, hills and walls the creator of the garden encloses his space, creating a sanctuary of balance apart from the outer world.
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Step 3
Borrow scenery. Use open space to highlight any pleasing landscape surrounding your Japanese garden. This will establish balance and connection with the outside world creating an illusion of extended boundaries.
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Step 4
Use perspective and scale to your advantage. Forcing perspective to make a space appear larger, smaller, shallower or deeper may be accomplished by using varying degrees of textures and contrasts to create an illusion. For example, to make a space appear more expansive, plant larger trees in the foreground than the background.
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Step 5
Explore the use of asymmetrical balance. In Japanese gardens, such unity is frequently accomplished through the pattern of a scalene triangle. For example, in a group of stones, the middle stone may be the tallest and represent the center line, while two smaller "helping" stones may be arranged at its sides to create the triangle pattern.
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Step 6
Create a sense of unity. The goal of a Japanese garden is to make the viewer feel one with his or her natural surroundings. Repeated patterns, complementary forms and the use of stone and/or water will add a sense of unity to your space.
