Zen Garden

Zen Garden is another name to dry Japanese rock garden. The garden is primarily made of sand and rock, and look like a landscape.  

A Zen Garden, also known as a dry or Japanese rock garden is a garden made primarily of sand and rock, which is cultivated to appear as a landscape or ocean. The sand within a Zen garden is meant to be regularly raked into new soothing and thought provoking patterns. Zen gardens can consist solely of sand or pebbles and larger stones, but many contain moss, grass or trees. Flowering plants are rare to true Zen gardens.

Planning a Zen Garden

The advantage of a Zen garden as the majority of elements to make it can be found in nature. There are a few expenses that can cut maintenance such as a weed guard under the sand or pebbles. Depending on size, purchasing such items could become expensive. 

Choosing the Elements for a Zen Garden:

The most important elements in a Zen garden are sand and rocks. Without these two things, the garden is not a Japanese rock garden at all.

Sand: White is the most commonly used color of sand for dry gardens as it shows the raked patterns best. White is also considered a color or purity and calm. Any sand can be used in a Zen garden however even if you just picked it up at the beach. Grey, Beige and Black sand are also wonderful choices. Some feel only crushed granite sand should be used in Zen gardens, but again this is not entirely necessary.

Rocks:Usually a Zen garden contains one or a few very large stones to represent mountains and then smaller stones to reflect hills. Take time in selecting your stones. Go for stones with colors and/or textures that interest you. The act of choosing stones for a dry rock garden can be soothing all in itself. Simply take a nice walk through the woods or along the beach and select items that jump out at you.

Plants:Though flowering plants are usually not present in Zen gardens but moss, grass or trees are.

Moss is often either grown on rocks or placed in patches to represent islands in the sea of rock. You can easily take local moss and apply it to your rocks by obtaining a small chunk and blending it in a blender with buttermilk and water. Once blended simply paint the mixture on rocks and moss will grow. Chunks can simply be transplanted to the desired location to make islands. Other leafy vine plants and/or ground cover may also be attached to rocks if desired.

Making and Maintaining a Zen Garden:

The final step is to actually create your Japanese rock garden and maintain it thereafter.

To make a Zen garden :First you need to obtain or create a mold to keep the sand or rocks in place. For a smaller Zen garden, you could use just about any container. Some people have even been known to create small desktop gardens.

To maintain a Zen Garden :Zen gardens are not set in stone. The elements within the garden can be regularly re-arranged and changed. The sand is often into new designs at your desire. Other than optional arrangements, a Zen garden should be kept free of weeds and debris to represent the clarity of the mind.