Niwaki

Japanese gardens are not about using large range of plants, rather the objective is creating atmosphere or ambiance.

Trees play a key role in the gardens and landscapes of Japan as well as being of important spiritual and cultural significance to its people.

Fittingly, Japanese gardeners have fine-tuned a distinctive set of pruning techniques meant to coax out the essential characters of niwaki.

Some designers are using zoke (miscellaneous plants) as well as the niwaki to create a more "natural" mood to the landscape.

Most traditional garden designers still rely primarily on the rarefied niwaki palette.