Most importantly, nature is the ideal that you must strive for. You can idealize it, even symbolize it, but you must never create something that nature itself cannot.  Rocks can represent whole mountains, pools become lakes. A small stretch of raked sand can become an entire ocean. The phrase “ Less is more” was surely first spoken by a garden master.

Winters is as much a garden season in Japan as spring. The Japanese refer to snow piled on the branches of trees as sekku, or snow blossoms, and there is a lantern known as yukimi that is named the snow viewing lantern.

Another concept inherent in every Japanese garden is enclosure. As we noted, the garden is to become a microcosm of nature. For the garden to be a true retreat, we must first seal it away from the outside world.

The Basic Designs
The Japanese garden is not truly a singular type despite the fact that certain rules apply to every garden. The gardens differ by setting and by use. There are three basic styles.
Hill and Pond (Chisen-Kaiyu-skiki)
The hill and pond garden is the basic style brought over from China. A pond fronts a hill (or hills). The pond can be an actual pond or represented by raked gravel. This style always denotes a mountain area and usually uses plants indigenous to the mountains. Stroll gardens are always hill and pond.
Flat Garden (Hiraniwa)
The flat style stems from the use of open, flat spaces in front of temples and palaces for ceremonies. These are often done in the karesansui style. This is a very Zen style (good for contemplation) and is representative of a seashore area (using the appropriate plants) Courtyards are always flat style gardens.
Tea Gardens (Rojiniwa)
The design of the tea garden is the only time that function overrides form. The Roji (dewy path) is the focus of the garden along with the water basin and the gates. This is the exception to the rule. Plantings should be simple to the point of sparse. Always strive for a rustic feeling.
Formality is also a design consideration
Another consideration is the formality of the garden. Hill and pond and flat styles can be shin (formal), gyo (intermediate) or so (informal). Formal styles were most often found at temples or palaces, the intermediate styles were appropriate for most residences, and the informal style was relegated to peasant huts and mountain retreats. The tea garden is always in the informal style.

Ornaments (Tenkebutsu)
Plantings (Shokobutsu)
Water (Mizu)
Rock (Ishi)