How to Create a Zen Garden in Your Backyard?
Zen gardens are Japanese rock gardens which highlight three traditional Japanese design principles–naturalness, simplicity, and austerity. Homeowners who want to enjoy outdoor beauty which inspires peaceful contemplation will benefit from creating Zen gardens in their home backyards. This guide is jam-packed with facts about Zen gardens, as well as practical design tips for homeowners who want a unique outdoor space.
Helpful Tips on Creating a Zen Garden in Your Backyard
Features of Zen gardens
Zen gardens promote enlightenment by focusing the mind on a range of natural design elements which are harmonious. A Zen garden is designed to be gazed at from a short distance and is ideal as a meditation space. Typical features of Zen gardens are bushes, stones, freestanding man-made water features, and pruned trees. Most of these gardens are compact, which is good news for so many space-starved American homeowners. Moreover. a typical Zen garden will be enclosed via a wall, guaranteeing privacy for the homeowner. According to the BHG, fences crafted from bamboo may be added, in lieu of stone walls, in order to enclose Zen gardens. While most features of Zen gardens are natural, man-made hardscaping elements, such as bridges, may also be added.
How to design the garden
To design a garden of this type, consider the dimensions and natural features of a yard and then select rocks, water features, and plants, along with preferred hardscaping elements. Smaller spaces will benefit from simpler design, while larger yards will offer more room for elaborate hardscaping, from bridges to ponds and beyond. For best results, scale design elements to the size of the yard. One design principle to keep in mind is that the various vignettes of a Zen garden shouldn’t be visible at one time. There should always be a sense of exploration, which encourages visitors to wander and find out what’s up ahead. Zen gardens with exceptional design offer mystery which sparks the imagination.
How to plan this DIY project
Homeowners should begin by mapping out their visions for their Japanese rock gardens on pieces of paper. All design elements should be laid out in drawings. Once this step is complete, a supplies list should be created. Next, supplies for the Zen garden should be sourced out and ordered. The last step is installation. It’s quite possible to create a gorgeous Zen garden over a sunny weekend, especially in a compact yard.
Get in touch with nature
A private yard is the perfect place to create an outdoor sanctuary where it’s so easy to de-stress and think about what’s really important in life. Homeowners who opt for Zen gardens use stones, plants, and water features to create soothing oases, in cities or suburbs. These peaceful and tranquil gardens are wonderful and inspiring places to be.