Reckless Gardener - Garden design ideas for your garden

Ever had thoughts of designing your own Japanese garden? George Nesfield has created a fabulous garden, that stemmed from a liking of Japanese Koi.

Today the garden is an inspiration to anyone thinking of adding some oriental additions to their garden.

Reckless caught up with George and found out how it all got started 30 years ago!

Qu1 - When you started your Japanese themed garden, did you realise that it would become what it is today?

1 "Well it all started from purchasing some Japanese koi. To keep them, you have to filter your water and a lot of koi keepers like to have their filter on show because they can cost hundreds of pounds - so of course they want to show them off! But I wanted the filter hidden from site and that was the beginning of my Japanese garden! I designed the two ponds one large and one small together with the filter and built a Japanese garden around them. That was over thirty years ago and I never thought it would end up with the Japanese garden I have today."

Qu2 - There seems to be differentsections of your garden. Which is your Favourite?

2 "There are several different parts to my garden. The pond, the Zen garden or kare-sansui which means dry stone garden, which is limestone rocks and raked limestone chippings. The Roji or dewy path garden, which leads to the tea house and the garden itself, with my shaped shrubs and conifers. Which do I like best? Well I like them all the same as they all have something different to keep your mind occupied whether pruning shrubs, raking the chippings or vacuuming the pond everything is relaxing and a pleasure to do, as the garden has a tranquility which can only be experienced by actually being here and listening to the silence and the flow of the water in the waterfall."

Qu3 - What was the most difficult part to create?

3 "The hardest part of the garden was building the ponds and waterfalls as I did all the digging and building myself with some help from my wife, son and daughter."

Qu4 - Did you do much research into Japanese gardens before you started?

4 "No, I did no research into Japanese gardens before I started the garden but after a couple of years I then started to research them by watching everything about Japan on the TV and by reading books on the subject, and in the last four years I have had a computer and the internet is a valuable place for information and having built my own website which is very successful I am now passing on my experience of Japanese gardening and Japanese koi keeping with help to people who email me from all over the world."

Qu5 - Is it difficult to maintain? How labour intensive is it?

5 "No, it is not labour intensive, just bonsai to trim, trees and shrubs to trim, the chippings to rake and the pond to vacuum to get rid of the blanket weed and everything is a pleasure to do when you get no pleasure out of it that's the time to hang you trimming shears up."

Qu6 - You have some beautiful trees in your garden. Tell me about some of them?

6 "All the trees and shrubs in the garden that are pruned in the Japanese style I have done myself including all my bonsai because I like to do everything myself where possible, to me the pleasure is in the designing and the doing, I have some really beautiful pines and conifers all shaped in the cloud pruning style which all started as either cuttings or saplings from a garden centre. My favourite as got to be my white pine (Goyo- Matsu) which was a small sapling and is now a magnificent Japanese style pine."

Qu7 - What advice would you give anyone thinking of setting up a Japanese garden?

7 "Anyone thinking of starting a Japanese garden, with a choice of different styles, I would advise them to look at as many Japanese gardens that they can. Either by visiting in person or on the internet as there are hundreds of them on the internet from little courtyard gardens to Imperial temple gardens."

Qu8 - Your garden looks very complete. Do you ever alter areas of the design?

8 "I am always making changes and changing things around in fact all my Japanese maples are in large pots so that I can move them around to give a different look to the garden, also a Japanese garden is never finished the viewer finishes the garden in there own mind."

Qu9 - Would you recommend anyone to have a Japanese garden?

9 "I would recommend everyone to have a Japanese garden, for the peace and tranquility and relaxation that is needed in this busy noisy world of today."