What Plants For a Japanese Garden?

[NZFanatic]

I was watching "Wild Japan" on Natgeo (now part of Disney+ in NZ) which was a feature focus on the Japanese macaque, and it made me want to do a little Japanese garden in the game. Trouble is we don't have a lot of plants that are traditionally found in a real Japanese garden, so I was wondering if there are any pseudo-botanists here who might recommend some good stand-ins.

Obviously the cherry blossom and Japanese maple are there, and the bengal and fountain bamboo are decent substitutes, but what else? Azaleas in place of rhodedendron is another one.

 

[Captain Callum]

I'm not an expert in plants in any way but I have made quite a few nice looking Japanese themed gardens in-game. There is the challenge of planning a cared for garden in an urban setting or a more wild one where say mossy rocks and ferns grow wild

Trees:

• Cherry blossom tree
• Japanese maple tree
• Tamarind tree 01 - looks real nice with the orange and green leaves
• Himalayan birch tree - nice for more wild looking gardens with wind swept trees

Rocks:

• Aquatic faux rock 7,8,9 great for those stone beds - color to a neutral gray shade for realism
• Twilight gargoyle statues - wombat is best. Rotate so it's behind sticks up above the surface
• The dynamic moss rocks also work great

Plants:

• Azalea
• Autumn leaf litter for autumn scenes
• Blue lotus plant
• Cattail reeds
• Common saltwort - I like the smallest one
• Cordyline plant - nice pink plant but I might argue not really suitable for a Japanese garden
• Dwarf Cornel
• Hydrangea bush
• Bracken
• Topiary hedges - alot of Google images feature these dome bushes that are very similar to the topiary sphere half sunken into the ground
• If wanting some grass, I'm sure the underwater grass could work great
• Fountain/Bengal bamboo

 

[Firestar97]

Made a Wishlist once for Plants from China and Japan that we should get in the Game. A Shame that not even one seems to have been added yet

Chinese and Japanese Plants Wishlist

I would really like to see those Plants in the Game: Ginkgo Tree Sago Palm Japanese Camellia Chinese Fan Palm Amur Maple Giant Bamboo Bonsai Variations of multiple Trees Some kind of Lily Mandarin Orange Magnolia Rhododendron I will expand this List when I remember another great Plant from...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Blue lotus plant

Didn't really think about those yet for such a Garden

Twilight gargoyle statues - wombat is best. Rotate so it's behind sticks up above the surface

I know this one is meant to be used to get some nice River Rocks but some actual Statues would be also nice.
For Example: Timberwolf Reward Statue for a Japanese Wolf Memorial

I wish I could help better but I don't know all the Plants we currently have in the Game.

You can also nicely use that Bridge from the Asia Set (wish there would be a Way to make it traversable) and that one Object that looks like a Torii which you can find in the Menu that includes all the Sun Shades for the Picnic Tables

The Wombat Gargoyle Rock Trick would probably be nice for a Path and I'd use the Faux Rocks that look like multiple smaller Rocks on the Bottom of a Pond and recolor them so they don't look all the same.

You could keep Cranes in the Garden. A Shame we don't also have Koi, Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies

You could also use the Hot Water Tap from the Wetlands Pack. Luckily it has such a nice Design. The Wind Chime Enrichment could be also used there. A Shame though that we don't have any Wind in the Game. Would be nice to hear that in such a Garden

A Shame we have no Tea Shop in the Game but you could do what I did once and decorate a Coffee Shop in such a Way that it looks as if they are selling Green Tea

I'd love to see some Pictures when it is finished

 

[XT]

The little Asian bridge is traversable - for animals and keepers when it's inside an exhibit. Not for guests. I use to allow the keepers get across streams.

 

[Firestar97]

The little Asian bridge is traversable - for animals and keepers when it's inside an exhibit. Not for guests. I use to allow the keepers get across streams.

That's what I meant though. Would be great if there would be a Way to make it traversable for Guests. Would really like it as a Connection between the Entrance Area and the Rest of a Zoo

 

[PnGLINNyo]

You can find bracken in Japan too. In fact they eat fiddleheads of it too