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The Japanese Zen garden has immense cultural and historical significance, reaching back as far as the 6th century. Nowadays, it has become a popular garden concept, incorporating space for relaxation, improved concentration, mindfulness, aesthetic enjoyment, and connection to nature.
These 5 tips for creating the perfect backyard Zen garden will help you bring these meditative aspects into your outdoor living space.
Be flexible and work with what you have when choosing a space for your Zen garden. It could be a small corner, a devoted backyard section, or your balcony or terrace. The most important factor is for your chosen spot to be easy to access and enjoy.
Draw a rough sketch of your space, ensuring you take all elements into account.
Consider the amount of sunlight the area gets to determine what plants you can incorporate. It’s also a good idea to think about landscape lighting such as stone lanterns and uplighting of rocks and plants.
Be mindful of your seating arrangements, color palette, and stone pathways in your gravel or sand base. Thorough planning is essential for those large rocks and stones that are difficult to manoeuvre.
Try to stick to the Japanese Zen garden principles when designing your garden. These include:
You’ll need various shapes and sizes of stones, rocks, and pebbles, as well as sand or gravel.
Stones are the key anchors of a Zen garden. Embrace asymmetry to reflect a natural landscape.
Mix and match types of stones (flat stones, river stones, etc.) and place them in odd-numbered balanced groupings to promote a sense of harmony. Scatter pebbles to introduce dimension, or build small piles of stones for delicate focal points.
Large rocks or boulders give your backyard Zen garden
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