Plant a Japanese Garden in Your Backyard

Mark Dizik and John Oden live in a beautiful Spanish-style house near the mountains. Built in 1929, the house has stunning architectural details including beamed ceilings, expansive windows and a winding staircase. Although the inside has a wonderful and warm atmosphere, the outside needs help.

After

After

Before

There's a beautiful yard, pool and small greenhouse, but near the greenhouse, the landscape is an open expanse of weeds and dirt. Dizik and Oden would like to capture the magic of the East and create a Japanese garden in their backyard.

Each designer presents his plan. Chuck Carr proposes a traditional Japanese garden dominated by a meandering path. Tom Poplin envisions a mountain meadow as the new landscape. Mark Beall presents a distinct but connected space that blends nicely with the existing yard.

After a week of reviewing the plans, Dizik and Oden select Beall's plan, and the large patch of land becomes a Japanese strolling garden, complete with an oasis of rushing water and lush vegetation. An area that was once an open patch of weeds and dirt is now an impressive garden that blends effortlessly with the existing landscape.