My recommendation is to find a reputable nursery for plants that do well in your zone. Find maple and pine and spruce and cypress that thrive, and then ask if they do landscape plans for customers. If they have local landscape architects, they should work with you to develop a plan that you can plant or they can plant for you. We had plans drawn by a local nursery to plan for 5 and 10 year development. Over that time period you can choose to leave them natural or to train using Niwaki methods. Most Japanese style garden have water features in my experience. A stream or even a dry stream bed can add interest and natural curves to the design.Have fun… make it unique… take photos of your progress.