Zen gardens intend to bring relaxation and reflection to a home’s garden. It can be fairly simple to add some zen touches to your own garden, to bring some calm and clarity to your yard. A zen garden is made to look peaceful and organized, and use minimal design features to avoid looking cluttered and fussy. A zen garden can be created to take up a whole yard, or can be as small as to stay on a desktop. Here we have put together some ideas for creating a zen garden in your space (no matter what size).

Sand Mold
It is important to maintain a clean look for your zen garden – so when adding a sand feature, make a wooden mold around the outside of the sand to keep the sand in place. This will avoid spillage into other parts of the garden.

Rake the Sand
Create long, curving strokes to represent ripples of water. This will help to create a calming atmosphere. Keep in mind that you can use raking the sand as a way to create new looks and explore new creative ideas in your garden.

Stones
Arranging stones within the garden can create an interesting visual appeal. Use different sizes of stones, and place them off centered and partially buried within your sand mold.

Zen Features
There are many options for adding additional zen features to your garden. Water features can provide a great sense of peace, and are a favourite for zen gardens, especially when they can house koi fish. Lights added to the garden can also ensure it looks great in both day and nighttime – shadows can help to make your garden stand out as well.

Plants
While some zen gardens remain as just stone gardens, adding plant life with pops of colour can give the garden a new wonderful energy. For example, yellow blossoms suggest a yang energy while dark green plants give off a yin energy for balance.

No matter what size of garden you are working with, there are many options out there for making it a zen space. A zen garden will provide peace and calming energies which will help clear the mind and provide relaxation.