Peter Dowdall: So many reasons to love Japanese gardens 

'I remember the first time I saw a traditional Japanese garden; it was gardening as philosophy, and I was hooked'

Cha No Niwa, a Japanese tea garden, designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara, winner of Garden of the Year and the People’s Choice Best Show Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025. Picture: RHS/Neil Hepworth

I've always been taken with Japanese gardens, and the more I have learned about them and seen them, the deeper that fascination has become.

There’s something about their peacefulness, the attention to detail, and the way they seamlessly blend the hard and the soft that I find fabulous.