Herbaceous Plants

• Some traditional Japanese gardens are monochrome with mostly green plants whereas others such as those during Japan's 10th to 12th centuries featured flowering vegetation. Some suggestions of herbaceous plants for a green, neutral design, since their flowers are not very obvious, are Japanese forest grass, Japanese spurge and deer fern. Japanese forest grass has a gorgeous golden yellow and green variegation pattern. Japanese spurge grows dark, green, oval leaves that form whorl patterns. Deer fern has luscious green fronds that orient both horizontally and vertically. To add some color to your Japanese garden, incorporate purple and white irises; thyme, which produces gorgeous purple blossoms; Japanese spirea with its pink flowers; violets; and balloon flowers with showy, blue, bugle-shaped flowers. If you have a pond, lotuses and water lilies will make fine additions.
  
  

Vines

• If you want to add a vertical dimension to your Japanese garden, plant some climbing vines and install trellises or miniature pagodas for them to scale. Some examples of evergreen vines characteristic of a Japanese garden are ivies with shiny green and lobed leaves and star jasmine, which produces small flowers and has shiny green, ovate leaves. Vines that produce colorful and showier flowers are wisteria and moon flower. Japanese wisteria twines around structures clock-wise and produces long chains of drooping, violet flowers. Moon flower vine, although not native to Japan, will bring a sense of magic to your garden; its crisp white blossoms open at dusk and remain closed during the day.
  
  

Shrubs

• Rhododendrons and azaleas are very characteristic of Japanese gardens. They produce generous flowers that range in hues of red, pink and purple. At Seattle's Japanese Garden, some of these shrubs are left to grow naturally while others are pruned so their tops bear geometric and clean designs. If you also want to plant shrubs that are more known for their green foliage rather than their flowers, Japanese holly is an option. It typically grows up to 6 feet tall and wide, depending on the cultivar, has shiny, small leaves and produces purple berries. Barberry, another shrub you may consider, grows up to 7 feet tall and wide and its leaves turn a gorgeous yellow to red in the autumn.
  
  

Trees

• According to the UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden, Japanese red and black pines are important in a Japanese garden. The red pine symbolizes the female, tender energy and the black pine represents the strong male force. If you want to attempt the art of bonsai, Juniper and Japanese maple are easy to start with. Then you can move on to training Japanese or other pine species. Other suggestions of trees for a Japanese garden include Japanese cedar and Serbian spruce, which are both evergreen, or Japanese apricot which produces light pink flowers and Japanese flowering cherry whose canopy becomes a sea of violet-pink.