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Look! Front Garden With an Asian DIY Twist

9809frontgarden1.jpgWhenever we pass this lovely front garden on neighborhood walks with the pooch, we stop to admire the simple do-it-yourself solution employed to enhance the garden's Asian look and feel...

 
 

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A basic wood trellis has been chopped up and hung beneath the heavy beams to create a decorative archway. The trellis fragments frame the garden nicely, and when the fog lifts (probably not very often) they also provide a nice frame for the city view beyond the house.

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We love the plantings, too, focused not on blooming florals but on layers of textured foliage and soft colors, with rusty reds mixed in with various shades of green. Bamboos and Japanese maples further enhance the calming Asian mood of the garden.

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(Images: Susie Nadler)

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Look!, gardening, inspiration, bamboo, trellis, Asian garden, Japanese maple

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Comments (6)

This doesn't look at all Asian to me. And I grew up in Asia. :/

posted by Mrs.Mack on September 8th 2009 at 12:34pm
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i grew in asia too and the term is quite vague. i think he means japanese.you can see many a japanese garden with that type of wooden framework and trees and shrubs around it. all in all i think it looks great. i would love create something a bit smaller for my front drive which is completely paved apart from one section which has a monkey puzzle tree

posted by meerar on September 8th 2009 at 2:27pm
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Has the remnant-of-bombed-out-wall-in-france-circa-1944 vibe to me...

posted by swagdujour on September 8th 2009 at 9:54pm
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Nope, it's not Japanese, either. Most gardens around here are either lush container gardens or gravel-paved and carefully sculptured. However, I recognize a lot of the plants. I think what is meant by "Asian" is the use of foliage native to the continent to create a wooded feel. Then again, most of the forests in Japan are cedar, thanks to deforestation and subsequent reforestation. That, and bamboo, which needs to stay in the wild.

posted by LaurelJRyan on September 9th 2009 at 2:40am
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I agree. Where's the Asian?

posted by chartreuse on September 9th 2009 at 12:34pm
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No, it's not Japanese either. To be specific, I grew up in Tokyo. That doesn't look anything like what I saw back home.

posted by Mrs.Mack on September 10th 2009 at 1:50pm
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