Garden visit: Autumn in Sylvia’s Japanese garden

Sylvia has created a beautiful Japanese garden. Now in October, it has donned its most beautiful autumn attire.

This large autumn wreath has been made by Sylvia by wrapping branches around an old hula hoop. Free-growing wild vine, clematis, and climbing hydrangea provide natural decoration with their colorful leaves.

In autumn, it’s lovely to create beautiful decorations from everything nature has produced throughout the season. This is something Sylvia is an expert at. Handmade wreaths in various sizes adorn both the house wall and the garden’s entrance door. On a screen wall in the back garden hangs the largest wreath. Here, free-growing wild vine, clematis ‘Summer Snow,’ and climbing hydrangea have provided the decoration themselves with their long stems and vibrant, colorful leaves in various shapes.

Paving stones set into the gravel are framed by an avenue of the ornamental grass Miscanthus sinensis ‘Malepartus’ in black pots. The grass is purple and has beautiful feather-like plumes that dance gracefully in the wind – one of the Japanese garden’s showstoppers in September and October.

The season is drawing to a close, bringing a special kind of calm to the garden. It’s time to enjoy rather than work. Sylvia and Tore use the garden to recharge and gather energy, which is much needed with two demanding jobs. The mix of natural elements such as gravel, wood, dark-colored boxes, and carefully planned sightlines helps create tranquility both in the outdoor space and in the mind.

Autumn is the time to do less and enjoy more, preferably on a warm hide in the sun with something hot in your cup – surrounded by vibrant colors.

– At this time of year, we like to sit quietly in the different seating areas and just be rather than do anything. The various angles give us different perspectives. It’s often then that ideas for new projects come to us. That’s how most of the ideas in this garden have been created. We just sit and look out, and then the ideas come to us, she says.

Their favorite spot, which they always return to, is the seating area under the pergola covered with climbing wisteria. The plant is typical in Japan. At Sylvia’s, it blooms with white, hanging, and fragrant flowers in June. Now in autumn, it has white, elongated, decorative seed pods. The leaves are starting to change from green to yellow – and soon a golden canopy will envelop the gardeners.

– We use this spot almost all year round. One year, we sat here on Christmas Day with hides, blankets, and hot cocoa. I think the garden is beautiful all year, says Sylvia.

Vibrant red wild vine creates beautiful and natural autumn decoration in the garden’s water feature.

In a Japanese garden, it’s the foliage rather than the flowers that takes center stage, like the bright red leaves of the wild vine now crawling over the black-painted screens and fences. The lobed shape of the leaves is reminiscent of Japanese maple. The ornamental grasses abundantly demonstrate why they got their name. It’s at the end of the gardening season that they truly shine, with their feather-like plumes dancing in the autumn wind.

– I’ve focused on combining leaves with different shapes, colors, and textures. Since there are few flowers here, the decorative ornamental grasses get extra attention. They create life and height. I can’t get enough of them. That’s why I’ve mixed quite a few different varieties throughout the boxes and beds, she says.

Purple ornamental grass, pink lilac hydrangea, and bright red wild vine against the sleek, black fence add exciting colors and shapes to the autumn garden.

Trees with narrow crowns are scattered throughout the planting boxes. Next to a lemon-yellow climbing hydrangea, a Korean mountain ash shines in the autumn sun with its bright orange leaves and red berries.

– This one was bought in the summer, and I had no idea the leaves would become so beautiful over the season. It was truly a WOW moment when I discovered it that first autumn – a huge bonus! The Japanese maple is another of Sylvia’s autumn favorites.

– There’s something about the delicate leaves and the yellow-orange color the tree takes on in autumn. The color becomes even more intense after a couple of frost nights. I like that the maple grows upward without the crown becoming too wide. It gives plenty of space to plant underneath, so we can have plants on two levels, she says. Wild strawberries are planted in the surrounding box as a low-growing ground cover. They thrive beautifully together.

The Korean mountain ash is quite a sight as it reaches toward the autumn sun with its flaming, bright orange leaves and red berries.

Heather is one of Sylvia’s staple autumn plants.

– It has a slightly restrained look – just the way I like it.

As surely as autumn arrives, Sylvia fills boxes and pots with heather, both in the back garden and at the entrance.

– Heather is such a cozy plant, which I associate with autumn, Halloween, and pre-Christmas coziness. It reminds me of the mountains and lets us bring the cabin feeling home to the garden. It has a slightly restrained look – just the way I like it, she says.

Heather is repeated in several places throughout the outdoor space, a trick Sylvia swears by when planting in the garden. The repetition creates calm, harmony, and a sense of zen.

Buddha heads are a recurring element in Sylvia’s Japanese garden. They also provide a sense of zen and look beautiful surrounded by plants with deep autumn colors – like this wild vine.

Warm welcome! The entrance has received a proper upgrade to greet autumn with coziness, textiles, and lush plants. As in the rest of the Japanese garden, Sylvia also repeats the same plants and pots here to create harmony. She made the table by stacking empty wooden crates and placing planks on top. Here, she can change the look throughout the season. Smart and decorative!

Moss balls are easily made with binding wire. Their structured yet natural look fits well in the Japanese style. They can, for example, be hung as decoration under trees or used on trays and around lanterns.

The garden shed is starting to fill up with the grill, garden furniture, water basins, lanterns, and Buddha heads for overwintering. Sylvia doesn’t cut anything back in the fall; she saves that job for spring. But she wraps her newly planted wisteria in jute to protect it from the winter cold. The leaves are collected with a leaf blower and placed on top of the deepest boxes to provide some insulation.

– Now that we are soon entering winter, I almost feel a little heartbreak that the season is ending, she says.

Before long, the garden will be covered with snowflakes and frost on the leaves, but first, autumn will be enjoyed to the fullest.

Follow the Japandi garden through the seasons:

• Garden visit: Japandi garden at Sylvia's
• Garden visit: Crisp lines against soft snow at Sylvia’s

More from our world of gardens:

• JAPANESE GARDEN – simple, peaceful, and balanced

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