FENG SHUI IN THE GARDEN

When people think about Feng Shui they rarely associate it with the garden however it can be as important to adjust your garden as it is to adjust your home. Rooted deeply with ecology, geology, astronomy and hydrology, this art aims to bridge the gap between nature and the built environment. Thousands of years of study have produced information about elements that are more harmonious with particular areas of a site. People can use this knowledge in designing gardens to actually enhance aspects of their lives.

Over the years I have seen different categories of people who are interested in Feng Shui landscape design? I have seen people in three categories. First and most numerous are the people that want to improve their lives in some way—they want more business or money, a better relationship or have health problems. The second category is people who want their property to have better energy flow. They like their gardens but something is missing and they want it to “feel” better. The third category is people who want something with more meaning. We have all seen the gardening craze explode in the United States. There are tons of books in the market about designing gardens that give people the basics. People are ready now to ratchet that up and to personalize their gardens, add spiritual elements and give their spaces more meaning. Feng Shui helps in all of these ways. What I see in Feng Shui in the garden for my clients is a very meaningful way of designing a personal space, a different quality of connection to their land and a result of perhaps a different outlook in relating to the world.

On August 8-9 I will teach a two day workshop on Feng Shui in the Garden for UCLA Extension. It is an intensive, fun and enlightening class that I hope you can sign up for. In the meantime, I would like to give you some elementary tips to improve your Garden Feng Shui.

1. Bring representations of mountains and water into your property. Mountains and water have much deep meaning in the Chinese history. Basically mountains are the earth's bones and represent heaven. Water is the earth's blood and represents movement and fluidity. You don't need to have a mountain for the stability that supports you. You can use rocks. Water can be represented through fountains, ponds, pools or waterfalls. Water also represents money so in addition to bringing harmony with the sound of water into your space, it invites money into your life.

2. Make all of your spaces meaningful as well as beautiful to you. There are many ways to make you spaces meaningful to you. I of course think that using the tools in Feng Shui are the mose effective but there are many ways that you can make your space a heaven on earth. I have some clients that created fairy gardens and other clients who created mandalas to meditate on in their garden. The idea that will be most important is that you find a way to connect spiritually in your garden haven.

3. Incorporate the five senses into your garden. Most of us are most capivated by our eyes in the garden. We fall in love with particular colors that we want to see around us and our houses. Color preferences are very personal and very important to the way you feel about the garden and the way you feel in the garden. Our oldest and most basic sense is smell. Fragrance sinks deeply into our hearts and souls. Many scents are healing as we see in aromatherapy, for instance lavender is can help you relax as well as being antiseptic and analgesic. Taste has many healing qualities. Herbs are the primary source of medical care for most of the world. Each of those herbs come from plants, many of which can be grown in your garden. For instance, Chamomile induces sleep, is good for head colds, headaches and stomachaches. Touch is another way sense that can be used for its healing properties. The different textures of plants can be used to delight and comfort you not only in the physical touch but also in sight, that is seeing the various textures. Think about touching lambs ears, which is a furry grey plant or a succulent plant like the ice plants or moss. Hearing is last but certainly not least. Who hasn't felt the soothing sounds of water falling, the sounds of birds, buzzing of bees, wind rustling grass, leaves or bamboo. Anyone who has sat in a yard with any of these sounds knows what a calming effect it has on them. You can encourage this by planting the plants that attract birds, bees, insects or planting plants that make sounds in the wind such as grasses and bamboos, eucalyptus and palms.

4. Maintain your garden. If you have dying plants on your property remove them, revitalize the soil, fertilize and add healthy plants. This may seem elementary but many people remove plants from their property and don't replace them, leading to the lessoning of good energy on your property. One of the ways that we measure good energy is to access whether plants are thriving. This means that if your plants are fading, your fortunes will follow. As I mentioned in previous articles, all begins with the soil so revitalizing the soil gives new life a chance!

5. Balance your garden. Keep it in context with your architecture, your neighborhood and seek the balance within the garden. Balance the light and dark, colors and textures.
There is lots of room for design license when you are working with many of the different architectures however some choices are inappropriate such as mixing a contemporary house with an English garden or a gingerbread house with a desert landscape. There needs to be a balance also with the neighborhood although sometimes when you redo your landscape it serves as an inspiration to others. When I moved to my home, all the landscapes were just lawn and a few shrubs. A few months after I finished my landscape many of the others on the street started to change.

6. Energy moves harshly in straight lines. Try to have curved pathways and designs. Straight lines in the landscape speak of man's need to control the environment. Curved lines are more natural and in Feng Shui we are trying to balance the and meld the man made into the natural world. That being said, when an architecture calls out for a geometric solution, I will use it but then I always try to countpoint the geometrics with soft plant materials. If you have a straight path and want to soften it out, you can use plants to curve it on each side.

7. Entries should be generous and welcoming. Don’t allow anything to block or hide your entry. Your entry should always be something that you are proud of. It should welcome you and good energy into your home every day. I always ask my students to think about what they would do if the President of the United States was coming to visit. What would you do to dress up your house? You are the most honored guest that you could have in your home so you should enhance your entry so you and delighted and pleased to enter each day.

8. Ponds, pools and fountains bring money, good luck and harmony to a property. I know I mentioned this in point one but it bears repeating. When you are thinking of adding a water feature, remember to consider the maintenance that may be required. People often add koi ponds not realizing that fish and the pond needs to be cleaned and tended. Also make sure the water feature is in scale with the house. You don't want an institutional size fountain in a small yard. You don't want the water too close to the house so that you feel that there isn't enough space between the house and fountain or pool before you are in it.

9. Choose to have only beautiful things that you love around you.To many people this may seem very elementary but I have worked with people who don't want to participate in the design process. It is important to select plants that you love to have in your garden. Enjoy the process and create the garden of your dreams, your own heaven on earth.