 | So, you have little space for a garden and even less time to maintain one, but you'd still like to find a way to enjoy the tranquility that communing with nature brings. What if there was a way to have a care free garden that also offers the benefits of practising the ancient Asian art of Feng Shui, the supernatural way to improve your life? Have we peaked your interest now? Then read on.
For centuries, the Japanese have practised a form of landscaping known as dry gardening which requires no actual living plants. Dry gardens are much like three dimensional landscape paintings that employ the use of a variety of rocks, stones, gravel and sand to recreate a scene from nature. The beauty of this type of miniature landscaping lies in the fact that it requires no daily care to maintain it. No watering, weeding, or fertilizing needed. When you are ready to tool around with your dry garden, it is waiting patiently for you.
For those not yet familiar with the beliefs associated with Feng Shui, it is best described as a design technique that, when properly applied, is thought to increase the flow of positive energy through your living space. This energy is known as Chi, and is believed to bring love, fame and financial benefits into your life among other things. While that may be a little hard for we jaded Westerners to believe, Asian cultures have been practising the art of Feng Shui for many centuries, and firmly believe in it's spiritual and physical benefits.
With all this in mind, let's take a look at how you can design your own Japanese dry garden while also employing the basic principals of Feng Shui in hopes of attracting greater tranquility and fortune into your life.
Feng Shui landscaping requires three basic elements; mountains, water and greenery.
Mountains add rise and fall to a landscape, and Chi flow is believed to gather energy from these rises in much the same way a car on a roller coaster gathers enough speed from the down slope to carry it up the next hill. If the track remains perfectly flat, the car doesn't move. If your landscape is flat, the Chi will stagnate. Use larger rocks in your Japanese dry garden landscape to represent mountains and hills, achieving the necessary rise and fall to keep your Chi flowing freely.
Water is believe to act as a reservoir for holding good Chi in your environment. Luckily, Feng Shui is a forgiving art and only requires a representation of water, so you can create the appearance of a stream or pond in your Japanese dry garden with the use of blue/green aquarium gravel. However, you can easily add real water to your landscape with a small copper basin or bird bath if you don't mind the extra maintenance, the choice is completely yours.
The color green itself is believed to impart tranquility and can also be represented within the water element of your dry garden landscape.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the Feng Shui landscape design, it's time to compose your own personal Japanese dry garden.
First, you must decide how much space you can devote to your miniature landscape. A Japanese dry garden can be designed to fit on a table top, as well as a patio or balcony. It all depends on the amount of effort you want to put into it. Whatever you decide, you will want a frame of some sort to keep your gravel in place once you begin. This frame can be made with simple wooden 2 x 4's cut to size, or with bricks or rocks for larger dry gardens that will sit on the ground.
Take some time to consider where you want your water element to be before you begin pouring your gravel. It's actually a good idea to make some alternative design sketches to help you finalize your choice. You can also add a meandering pathway to your mini landscape using a lighter color of gravel or sand that will contrast with a darker base color for the rest of the ground areas.
Once you have your base gravels poured in their general areas you can use a hand trowel to spread the gravel out and fine tune your design. Larger dry gardens will require a rake for spreading your ground cover. This is one of the most relaxing parts of dry gardening, just swishing the gravel around and molding it with your hands until it's just the way you want it.
So at this point, you should have your basic landscape design set with pathways, water, and ground. Now it's time to add your mountains and hills. Be creative. Try different sizes, colors and textures of rocks to create the rises in your landscape. You can use single boulder shaped rocks for mountains, or you can make mounds from river pebbles to create hills. The point is to create a design that you find pleasing, one that draws your eye back to it repeatedly.
One of the nicest things about a dry garden landscape is the fact that you can easily change it if you get bored with your design. No heavy trees and shrubs to dig back up. No waiting for plants to grow or grass to fill in. You can change your dry garden whenever you feel the urge.
Even if you're not sure just how effective the powers of Feng Shui really are, the hours spent raking your gravel and contemplating your design are sure to be relaxing to body and mind. And isn't that what Feng Shui is really all about, bringing harmony and tranquility into your life? You may already be enjoying the affects of positive Chi without even realizing it.
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