A Japanese-Inspired Coastal Garden on Canada’s West Coast

Rather than impose itself on its setting, this garden on Canada’s West Coast takes its cues from what was already there. Mature woodland, an expansive coastline and views across Saanich Inlet became the starting point for landscape architects Paul Sangha Creative, working alongside Openspace Architecture.

“The vision for the garden is rooted in principles of Japanese garden design, set within a distinctly West Coast context,” explains project lead Mohit Srivastava. That influence emerges through a restrained palette, carefully composed sightlines and a sequence of spaces that reveal the landscape gradually, connecting the architecture to the coast beyond.

Frame the Landscape

On a site with views this commanding, knowing when to hold back becomes part of the design. Rather than creating competing focal points, the garden directs attention outwards, using openings in the planting and architecture to draw the eye towards the water and surrounding woodland. The same thinking shapes views within the property. Sightlines between the main residence, guest house and Koi Pavilion allow the natural landscape to remain visible between built forms, while paths bend and shift to reveal glimpses of architecture, sculpture and coastline. 

It is here that the Japanese principle of ‘shakkei’, or borrowed scenery, becomes particularly relevant: the landscape beyond the garden is treated as part of its composition, extending its visual boundaries far beyond the property itself.

Work With What Exists

At the front of the property, an established canopy of trees gives the garden its woodland character. Instead of clearing this to accommodate new infrastructure, the driveway and secondary road were threaded through the existing trees, preserving every one.

This respect for the existing landscape continues throughout the property. The garden becomes progressively less formal as it moves away from the architecture: controlled planting around the residence gives way to looser compositions before eventually meeting the naturally occurring coastal vegetation. The shift is deliberate but almost imperceptible, allowing cultivated and wild landscapes to meet without a hard boundary.

Create Continuity

A limited material palette strengthens the relationship between house and garden. Large-format textured limestone pavers used across the terraces correspond with the limestone flooring inside, while crushed basalt creates softer garden paths. Dark slate lines the water features, its grey blue tones reflecting the colours of the coastline and sky.

Natural stone and timber were selected not only for their relationship to the setting but for the way they will change with exposure and age. Precise detailing allows these relatively few materials to do more, creating cohesion without competing with the surrounding landscape. Rather than introducing numerous finishes outdoors, repeating materials used within the architecture creates an instinctive transition from interior to garden.

Plant in Layers

Planting responds to a series of distinct garden zones. Beneath the mature canopy of the Woodland Drive, shade-loving species cover the forest floor. Approaching the house, the composition becomes more controlled, with generous sweeps of ferns, grasses and herbaceous perennials creating variations in texture within a predominantly green palette.

Three sculptural Trochodendron trees rise from an entry water feature, while maples define the route connecting the main residence and guest house. Around the hot tub, clipped Olearia, ‘Ramapo’ rhododendrons and Pittosporum form the Mounded Garden. At the coastal edge, this formality dissolves. A locally adapted seed mix allows the designed garden to merge into the existing plant communities, softening the point at which intervention ends and the wider landscape begins.

Make Room for Art

The owners’ art collection became another layer in the garden’s planning. Instead of allocating fixed positions for individual sculptures, Paul Sangha Creative conceived the landscape as an evolving canvas. Meandering paths create sheltered niches, framed corners and moments of pause where works can be introduced over time. Planting provides a living backdrop while carefully considered sightlines allow art to appear unexpectedly rather than dominate the landscape. This flexibility means the garden can continue to change alongside the collection, accommodating future pieces without compromising the original design.

Pond Life

One of the garden’s most personal features is its bespoke koi pond. Its apparent simplicity disguises considerable technical planning: a minimum depth of four feet provides an appropriate habitat, while a two-foot planting ledge accommodates aquatic vegetation. A deck and bridge provide shelter for the fish, discreet bubblers aerate the water and predator protection is incorporated into the design.

A frameless glass guard provides safety without interrupting the visual connection between water and garden. Once constructed, the pond was filled and left for several months to allow the water to condition naturally before the koi, each personally selected by the owners, were introduced.

It encapsulates the thinking behind the wider garden: architecture, planting, art and the natural landscape are considered as parts of the same composition. As light moves through the trees and the planting shifts with the seasons, the garden continues to reveal something new while remaining firmly connected to its coastal setting.

Credits

Text by Catherine Mo

Images: Ema Peter