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Cuttings
The most cost effective method of growing trees in a Japanese garden is by planting cuttings. They are fast to acquire the desired finished appearance and require no special care to keep healthy. In the mini-garden, they offer the same visual pleasure as any rare and costly specimen. Irene Hyde was an expert in creating exquisite bowl gardens at very low costs, using specimens readied by her own methods of raising cuttings in potting trays. Excepting Tsuga, Cedar and Pine, it is possible to raise all conifers from cuttings.
Dwarf Conifers
Nearly all conifers have dwarf varieties that are very slow growing. The most expensive ones, with values increasing each year, may be approximately five inches after twenty years. A five year old is best for a Japanese mini-garden. There are others that have a faster growing rate and are less expensive. They survive in poor quality soil but it needs to be drained. There are countless varieties that can be incorporated in formal gardens, natural gardens, windswept hillsides or gardens with water.
Guide to Dwarf Conifers
There are so many varieties of conifers that it is practically impossible to list all of them. Here are just a few types of conifers:
COLOR CODE
- B—blue-green or blue-grey.
- D—dark green.
- E—emerald green.
- G—gold, bronze.
- L—light green.
- S—silver, steel-green or grey.
- T—yellows.
Names of conifers:
CYPRESS , CHAMAECYPARIS.
C. Lawsoniana (B)
C. Lawsoniana. areadensa (G)
C. Lawsoniana. lutea nana (LG)
C. Lawsoniana. minima glauca(B)
C. obtusa ericoides (BS)
C. obtusa caespitosa (E)
C. obtusa. flabelliformis
G. obtusa. intermedia
G. obtusa. juniperoides
C. obtusa pygmaea (GL)
C. obtusa tetragona minima
C. obtusa. nana (E)
C. obtusa. tetragona aurea (GT)
C. pisiferafilifera aurea (G)
C. pisiferafilifera nana (D)
C. pisiferafilifera variegata (DT)
C. pisiferafilifera plumosa aurea compacta Rogersii (LG)
G. pisiferafilifera squarrosanana argenteus (BS)
C. sphaeroides ericoides (SG)
C. sphaeroides andleyensis leptoclada (EG)
Small Trees and Flowering Shrubs
Other than conifers, there are a number of shrubs and trees of dwarf varieties more suitable for the sink type Japanese mini-gardens but they require some sort of artificial dwarfing without which they may be unfit for the mini-garden in about a year's time. The miniature garden is a visual treat that not only enhances the indoor ambience but also adds to the beauty of the great outdoors.