Many thanks to Ayako for the link!
Don Richards of Applied Horticulture Consulting, Inc.was charged with finding trees and shrubs for 47 Ronin. He found the specimens at four Oregon nurseries and had then shipped to California. On the Plants, Richards says:
“In several scenes, some of them action scenes, you’ll easily notice formal Japanese gardens where the action takes place in temples or Shogun strongholds. Many of those plants came from Oregon.”
Mr. Richards, who also met Keanu Reeves, said the following about him:
“He’s a very nice guy. He’s a lot more Ted from ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ than he is Neo from “The Matrix.”
The article is here.