The Japanese Garden Centre

Name

The Japanese Garden Centre

Legal name

Rhino Rock LLP

Website

https://buildajapanesegarden.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Garden Retail & Landscaping Services

NAICS

Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (44424), Landscaping Services (561730)

SIC

Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

Plants, Seeds & Nursery Retail (Garden Centers) (CRAIAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Garden Bed Design, Layout & Planting Plans (HSAIAFAA)

Keywords

• Japanese garden retail
• Garden design services
• Garden construction landscaping
• Japanese garden materials
• Specialist plants acers

Headquarters

HQ city

East Peckham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product sales (retail and online): Sale of Japanese garden materials and plants through an e-commerce platform and physical garden centre. Product categories include stone lanterns, water basins, water features, stone ornaments, bamboo products, gravel/cobbles, granite paving, stepping stones, bridges, plants (Acers, cloud trees, evergreen shrubs), Japanese garden tools, homeware, artwork, books, wind chimes, Okimono, and Japanese-style buildings.
2. Garden design services: Bespoke Japanese garden design service involving site visit, survey, concept drawing, design meeting, and fixed-price quotation. Remote design service available. Fees are agreed upon enquiry.
3. Garden construction / landscaping: Full construction service for Japanese gardens across the UK and Europe, ranging from small courtyard gardens to large 1.5-acre stroll gardens. Customers can choose full design-and-build or materials-only supply.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Japanese Garden Centre sells authentic Japanese garden products (stone lanterns, water basins, water features, bamboo, paving, gravel, stepping stones, Acers/Japanese Maples, cloud trees, garden tools, homeware, books, artwork, and Japanese-style buildings) through a physical garden centre in East Peckham, Kent and an e-commerce shop at buildajapanesegarden.com. The company also delivers bespoke Japanese garden design and full construction/landscaping services across the UK and Europe, with over 30 years of expertise and more than 250 gardens built since 1993.

Product overview

The Japanese Garden Centre is a specialist UK retailer and design/build firm offering a comprehensive range of Japanese garden products and services. The core offering combines an extensive e-commerce retail operation with professional garden design and construction services. Retail products span stone ornaments (Stone Lanterns/Tōrō, Water Basins/Tsukubai, Water Features, Stone Figures), hard landscaping materials (Bamboo Products, Stone Bridges, Gravel/Cobbles, Granite Palisades, Granite Paving, Stepping Stones), plants (Acers/Japanese Maples, Cloud Trees/Niwaki, Evergreen Shrubs, Pines, Ground Cover), home goods (Japanese Garden Tools, Artwork, Books, Homeware, Hand Basins, Okimono, Wind Chimes), and Japanese Style Buildings (Tea Houses, Torii Gates, SHOJI windows). The company also provides Garden Design (site visit, survey, concept drawing, meeting, quotation) and Garden Construction/Landscaping services with over 30 years experience and 250+ completed projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stone Lanterns (Tōrō)
• Water Basins (Tsukubai)
• Water Features
• Stone Figures & Ornaments
• Bamboo Products (Fencing, Poles, Rakes)
• Japanese Stone Bridges
• Gravel and Cobbles
• Granite Paving
• Japanese Stepping Stones
• Acers (Japanese Maples)
• Japanese Cloud Trees (Niwaki)
• Specialist Japanese Garden Plants
• Japanese Garden Tools
• Japanese Homeware
• Indoor Hand Basins
• Japanese Artwork
• Japanese Books
• Japanese Style Buildings (Tea Houses, Torii Gates, SHOJI)
• Bespoke Japanese Garden Design Service
• Garden Construction / Landscaping Service

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 250 Japanese gardens designed and built across the UK and Europe since 1993.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship / core.

• Jun IshiharacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Supplied key plants and specimen Japanese Acers to Jun Ishihara for The Another Room exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 (Silver Gilt).
• Carrie Anne FunnellminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Supplied specimen Japanese Maples for Carrie Anne Funnell's glass art exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 & 2025.
• Andy Bolton & Nick Islip (Tea & Tranquility)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Garden sponsor and supplier of Japanese Oribe lantern and water feature products for the Tea & Tranquility garden at RHS Wentworth Woodhouse 2025 (Gold Medal).
• La La LandscapesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Supplied bespoke Kent Ragstone boulders for the Changing Tides Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 (Gold Medal). Howard Healey hand carved the boulders into planters.
• The Shard London (Wellness Week events)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Japanese garden installations for Wellness Week events at The Shard in 2018 and 2019, providing garden design and installation for corporate wellness events.
• Mitsubishi CorporationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Japanese garden installation for Mitsubishi Corporation's product launch at the Eiffel Tower, Paris (airshow 2019).
• Mallet Court NurseryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Supplied and installed a small Japanese stream and curved granite bench for the Trees & Shrubs exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2004 (Bronze Medal).
• Kazuyuki Ishiharaflagship / coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1993The Japanese Garden Centre has supplied plants and materials to renowned Japanese garden designer Kazuyuki Ishihara for over 10 years at RHS Flower Shows. Ishihara has won 13 Gold Medals at RHS Chelsea Flower Show including Best in Show 2025. The company supplies exhibition-quality plants from its stock that meet Ishihara's exacting standards. Many of these plants are available at the retail centre after the shows or used in The Japanese Garden Centre's own projects. This is the company's flagship and most strategically significant partnership, providing major brand credibility and access to exhibition-quality sourcing standards.
• Japanese craftsman suppliers (Edo, Kyoto, Nara collections)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe company sources its finest stone lanterns and water basins from two master craftsmen from different regions of Japan. These craftsmen, their stone, and their products are designated as traditional crafts by the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Edo collection is individually hand carved with precision by craftspeople who dedicate a lifetime to mastering the skill.
• European plant growers and nursery networkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe company has developed excellent relationships with growers across Europe for cloud trees (Niwaki), importing for the past 20 years. They visit suppliers twice a year to source authentic and unusual plants. They also maintain relationships with UK-based suppliers of stone and other materials.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Primrose: Primrose is a UK online retailer of garden and outdoor products including furniture, planters, tools and garden décor. Comparable as an online-first UK garden products retailer serving consumer and trade customers, with overlapping product categories such as garden ornaments, planters and outdoor décor.
• Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery: Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery is a UK specialist woody plant nursery with a 9-acre arboretum and online plant sales. Comparable as a UK specialist nursery offering rare and specimen trees and shrubs to enthusiasts, similar in specialism and customer profile to The Japanese Garden Centre's specimen Acer and cloud tree offering.
• Thompson & Morgan: Thompson & Morgan is a major UK seed and live plant retailer selling via e-commerce and catalogue to gardening enthusiasts. Comparable as a UK specialist plant and gardening supplies retailer serving enthusiast customers, though focused on seeds and broad plant ranges rather than the Japanese garden niche.
• Burncoose Nurseries: Burncoose Nurseries is a UK specialist plant nursery offering over 4,000 plant varieties via online and mail order with a physical nursery in Cornwall. Comparable as a UK specialist plant retailer combining deep horticultural expertise, online sales, and a physical garden centre, similar in structure to The Japanese Garden Centre's combined nursery/retail model.
• Crocus: Crocus is one of the UK's largest online garden retailers, offering plants, garden furniture, and landscaping products via e-commerce. Comparable as a UK-based online-first garden retailer serving both retail customers and trade/design professionals, though with a much broader generalist product range rather than Japanese garden specialism.
• Harrod Horticultural: Harrod Horticultural is a UK manufacturer and retailer of premium garden structures, tools and equipment, selling direct to consumers and trade via e-commerce. Comparable as a UK e-commerce-led garden products retailer offering premium specialist gardening hardware, overlapping with The Japanese Garden Centre's bamboo and tool product lines.
• Suttons: Suttons is a long-established UK garden retailer (founded 1806) selling seeds, plants, tools and garden supplies online and via catalogue. Comparable as a UK-facing direct-to-consumer garden retailer with a multi-channel retail model similar in structure to The Japanese Garden Centre's retail and online shop operation.

Others

• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS): The RHS is the UK's leading gardening charity, organising major flower shows (Chelsea, Hampton Court, Tatton Park) and running gardens such as Wisley and Harlow Carr. Not a direct competitor but a critical ecosystem partner — The Japanese Garden Centre supplies materials to RHS exhibitors including Kazuyuki Ishihara, making RHS an important channel for brand credibility rather than a commercial peer.

Broad incumbents

• Notcutts Garden Centres: Notcutts is a long-established UK garden centre chain with multiple physical locations offering plants, garden products, and homeware. Comparable as a UK garden centre retailer serving consumers and gardening enthusiasts, though operating at much larger scale across generalist ranges rather than Japanese garden specialism.
• Squire's Garden Centres: Squire's is a family-run UK garden centre chain with multiple physical sites across southern England offering plants, garden products and café/restaurant facilities. Comparable as a UK physical garden centre operator serving homeowner customers, with overlap in customer demographics and product categories though not in Japanese specialism.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheJapaneseGardenCentre
• Instagraminstagram.com/japanesegardencentre
• Xx.com/rhinorockuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/water-gardens

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Japanese Garden Centre