For my color palette I basically choose a loose red, blue, green triad.
As far as the design or the lay out to go, you would walk through a round gate into a zen rock garden, and beyond that would be just one large Koi fish pond, that had a small bridge to cross to a small bench under a maple tree.
I read a couple articles about Japanese garden principles, and basically when they make there gardens they try to not only keep it simple, but also they're making a mini land scape. So the large rocks become the mountains, the pound is the ocean and the maple is a forest. They also try to close of the space so its isolated from the world to make it wabi which losely translated is isolated or one of a kind. Also isolating this space acts as a mini retreat, some place to cast off your world worries and to re-group to face them again. Which is why I wanted to put in a rock wall with a circle type gate, and a small bench in the back as a meditation place.
