日
本
庭
園
The studio
庭師
Gardens built to slow you down.
KOI is a small studio of gardeners who design, build and look after Japanese gardens: koi ponds, dry gardens, courtyards and stroll gardens, for homes, clinics and hotels.
We work slowly and by hand. Stones are chosen at the quarry, trees at the nursery, and nothing goes in until it sits right. Then we stay on, season after season, because a Japanese garden is grown as much as it is built.
1.2 m
Minimum depth of every koi pond we build
2 hrs
To turn over the full volume of pond water
By hand
Every stone chosen at the quarry and set
4
Seasonal visits in every care plan
What we do
仕事
Six ways into a garden.
Most gardens use three or four of these. We will tell you which ones your space needs, and which it doesn’t.
池
池泉
Koi ponds & water
Deep, clear ponds built for koi to live long lives: 1.2 m at the deepest, bottom drains, settling chambers and a waterfall that does the filtering.
Ponds from 6 m²
石
枯山水
Dry gardens
Karesansui: raked gravel and set stone that read as water and islands. Every stone is chosen at the quarry and set by hand.
Courtyards to half an acre
木
植栽
Planting
Japanese maples, black pine, camellia, moss and bamboo, chosen for your light and soil and planted to look like they were always there.
Native swaps on request
灯
石灯籠
Lanterns, basins & paths
Stone lanterns, tsukubai water basins, stepping stones and bamboo fences, sourced new or reclaimed.
Hand-carved granite
剪
庭木
Niwaki pruning
Cloud pruning and thinning for pines, junipers and maples, done the slow way so the tree keeps its character.
Twice-yearly visits
守
手入れ
Seasonal care
A gardener who knows your garden, every season: moss, gravel, koi health checks, pruning and winter protection.
Monthly or quarterly plans
Recent gardens
庭の記録
Gardens we have made.
Six from the last two years, from a six-square-metre courtyard to a hillside you can walk for an hour. Every one is still in our care.
池
泉
回
遊
Garden No. 014
Pond, cascade and maple walk · 0.4 ha
紅
葉
Garden No. 021
Twelve maples, moss and a gravel path · 300 m²
枯
山
水
Garden No. 022
Raked granite and five set stones · 48 m²
錦
鯉
Garden No. 027
1.4 m pond, 11 koi, stepping-stone path · 120 m²
坪
庭
Garden No. 019
Moss, lantern and water basin · 6 m²
雪
吊
り
Garden No. 024
Niwaki pines with winter yukitsuri · 90 m²
How we work
手順
From first walk to first koi.
Four steps, in order. The fourth one never really ends, which is the point.
Walk the site
We spend an unhurried hour with you in the space: light, soil, views, how you want to use it and how you want it to feel.
Week 1 · free within 30 km
Draw the garden
A hand-drawn plan and a short list of stones, plants and materials, with a fixed price you can hold us to.
Weeks 2 to 3
Build by hand
Our own small crew digs, sets every stone and plants every tree. Ponds are filled, balanced and cycled before the koi arrive.
Weeks 4 to 10
Care through the seasons
A Japanese garden is never finished. We return each season to prune, rake, check the water and keep it becoming itself.
Every season, for as long as you like
Through the year
四季
A garden for every season.
What we do in your garden as the year turns. Care plans cover all four visits.
Spring
Moss renewal, new planting, the first koi feed as the water warms past 10 °C.
Summer
Water testing, shade for the pond, evening watering and a close eye on the koi in the heat.
Autumn
Maples at their best, leaf netting over the pond, structural pruning while the trees slow down.
Winter
Yukitsuri rope supports for the pines, a deep clean of the pond and quiet weeks for the koi.
In their words
お客様の声
People who sit in our gardens.
“
We wanted somewhere to have a coffee and hear water. Two years on, the koi know us, and we spend more time outside than in.
Margaret and Ian H.
Courtyard pond
“
They talked us out of half of what we asked for, and the garden is better for it. Every stone looks like it has always been there.
Daniel K.
Dry garden
“
The maple walk turns red in April and people stop on the street to look. The seasonal visits mean it only gets better.
Priya S.
Stroll garden
Book a garden walk
相談
Start with a walk.
We visit, walk the space with you and send a hand-drawn sketch and a fixed price within a week. The first walk is free within 30 km of the studio.