I just signed on to this forum but I'm sure this has been pointed out before:

How much space do you have?
What shape is it?
How much light does it get?
Is water an issue?

Could you post a diagram of what you have to work with?

My general experience with gardeners is that they will be more than happy to respond to inquiries if they have a good idea of what the question is.

I have a ten acre garden with a lot of Japanese Maples that I grew from seed. My garden is not Japanese, nor cottage. It's not an arboretum either.
What would you call it?
Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden.

I posted in the wrong space above. should have started my own thread. Sorry.
Ryan, describe your space. Better yet, give us a picture from your back door or patio, looking out. Describe your design concerns.
Mike

You don't need Japanese plants to make a Japanese garden. At the Japanese garden I work, we have lots of US natives as well as plants from Europe.

Of course we do have Japanese maples of several varieties as well as some other plants from Japan. But I would suggest picking plants that work for area 1st and foremost.

If I had to recommend some plants though I would choose small evergreen shrubs (yews, boxwood, holly, etc), GREEN Japanese maples, and evergreen trees such as pines, falsecypress, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some great green Japanese maples