Here's a list of books you might consider. Paul

Here is a link that might be useful: books

Here's a list to help get you started, from the Canadian Gardening book, "Creating a Garden"... *the key is to keep it simple, green is usually the dominant color*
- low-lying ferns, junipers, mugo pines
- crab apple/cherry tree, mountain ash (for added color)
- azaleas, rhododendrons for the summer
- japanese maples (red color for the fall)
- burning bush (fall color) , oregon holly (winter)
- cedar hedge (not for windy, exposed, cold aites)
- wisteria vine(on an arbor/pergola)
- ivy, wintergreen, pachysandra, periwinkle (groundcovers)
I hope this helps... Good luck!

Oops, sorry, I forgot to add structures...
- water is a common feature (small pond, bamboo fountain) with koi fish, water lilies, grasses
- add rocks that look natural (like they've always been there)assorted sizes, flat rocks
- a stone bench
- a winding path(gravel or rock path)
- dry stone creek bed
- a small bridge over the dry creek bed
- Stained, not painted decking and /or fencing
- a stone lantern
And if you really want to go all out...
- a basin set on a grouping of rocks (tsukubai) is common outside ceremonial sites in Japan, and is used by visitors for washing hands before entering a sacred space...
- bonsai trees are great for raised bed focal points (almost all shrubs can be 'trained' to be bonsai, if you can not afford the real deal (some can be fairly expensive)
Japanese gardens are based on balance: yin and yang (light and dark, mass with space, vertical with horizontal)
Take your time, a garden is never truly finished...

thank you sarah27, you're inspiring me!

Thought. Lots of thought. It is not the "what", but it is the "how".

We've all seen empty fields of gravel a small grouping of rocks that look wonderful. I'd suggest that it is neither the gravel or rocks that will duplicate the success of the garden. It is how they are placed and balancing of the mass of rocks against the expanse of gravel, negative space vs. positive space, etc, ...

I'd suggest that it is not the stone lantern that is inspiring in the garden, but the mass and texture of it balanced against everything around it.

My belief is that there is simply a different approach to balance that is the basis of Japanese gardens. It is the ability to balance with unlike objects, forms, color, and texture. Sometimes only one or two of these are present, but sometimes all of them and more are. The ability to assess the visual weight of these things and then to use that qualitative judgement to form compositions that on a whole are very balanced and restful is what I think is at the heart of it.

Think about acheiving balance between a 2 ton boulder and feathers. Once that is done, throw in a tree. Do you need to move the rock? Maybe add or take away some feathers? Somehow the equivalent is done in the many forms Japanese gardens take that I can recall.

The cultural icons certainly make a link that everyone will recognize, but a Japanese garden can be recognized without a lantern, bamboo, or a moon gate. I would also suggest that the presence of those items does not a Japanese garden make.

I'm not trying to cause a firestorm as it seems from reading some posts there has been problems with that. That is just my take on what the "thing" is about Japanese gardens.

Some are extremely complicated with all kings of plant forms, sizes, texture, and color (sometimes lots of contrasting color). There may be dramatically undulating landform. There can be water, stone, and wood structures. But it seems that no matter what they have whether simple or complex, it is always restful because it is always balanced.

Our Western cultures tend to lean much more heavily on symetry and/or geometry for balance. We are taught to see numbers, size, and distance to counteract each other. They, the masters of Japanese gardens, apparently see more than that and use it.