Zen Garden

Zen Garden History

The idea of a miniature version of idealized nature came from gardens in China, and was brought to Japan by monks in the 6th century. Japanese gardeners adapted the tradition to the scale of their own country and a new style began to evolve. Famous views were very popular in Japan. Travelers would seek out certain beautiful vistas, and representations of these were recreated in gardens. In small gardens, shakkei, borrowed views, created the impression of a larger space. The landscape outside the garden that can be seen from within it was considered an extension of the garden. These principles were also employeed in Japanese tea gardens.

Zen Garden Elements

Carefully positioned stones represent islands in a river of finely groomed gravel or sand. The rhythmic lines are raked in flowing patterns around the large, asymmetrical stones. This intimate composition can also be read as mountains rising from moss. Expanses of white gravel are seen in other types of spaces in Japanese landscape design, such as entrances to palaces; in the Shinto tradition it symbolizes purified space. The elements in the garden are placed intuitively and according to the principles of fung shui and geomancy, practices that help locate the best positions for things along the earth’s energy lines, and tap into the landscape’s spiritual forces. Greek architecture is based upon similar principles. Alex Stark is a contemporary practitioner of fung shui and shamanism, who studies and designs “harmonious environments.”

Making a Zen Garden

The ideas inherent in the practice of Zen gardening have been adapted on a variety of scales. In the 1930s, people outside of Japan began to study and understand the principles of Japanese garden design, and it strongly influenced the art and architecture of the modernist movement.

Tabletop sand gardens and sandbox-sized trays are available from garden shops or online. Small-scale gardens are easy to maintain and can be enjoyed by continually creating new and more pleasing compositions of sand and stones, or through the simple practice of quiet meditation. The austere look of Zen gardens can be achieved at larger scales in the home landscape. A formal dry garden could be the focal point of your landscape, or the style of the garden could be conveyed through the use of areas of sand and gravel. Below are some tips for creating a Zen-style dry garden.

• Level a rectangular area and clear it of weeds.
• Find the stones you wish to arrange and determine which side of the stone should be facing upright. Stones are thought to have a ‘happy face’, so turn the stones around and consider them at various angles.
• Stones look best when partially buried in the soil.
  
• Traditional Zen compositions have 5 groups of 3 stones, arranged asymmetrically. But do what works for your garden.
  
• Create an edge around the whole composition with brick, natural stone or rot resistant lumber.
  
• Lay down permeable landscaping fabric, cutting holes for the stones, and stake it to the ground.
  
• Pour 2 to 4 inches of sand or small gravel evenly over the fabric. Rake and Enjoy!