My Zen garden

[Stuardo]

At the entrance to my home is a small area that consisted of a gnarly old Dracaena and an air conditioner unit, and when the wind blew, the leaves on the driveway swirled around and piled up in that area. Not the welcome I wanted for my front door.

I could never really decide what I wanted to do with that area until I saw a Buddha statue in a garden shop who asked me to take them home. Who am I to refuse the Buddha? I did some research as I didn’t want to disrespect the Buddha or break any spiritual rules but what I did find was it’s more about how the statue, and the garden, makes you feel.

I cleared and leveled the area with course sand and piled up some drainage gravel in a mound to sit the statue on. I mixed bags of garden soil with the sand and formed it into the shape I wanted and sat an air con cover on pavers.

The plants are Ornamental Gingers at the back, Pratia ground cover on the mound, Adenium Desert Rose at the sides for their sculptural look, New Guinea Impatiens in the front with an assortment of succulents.

So how does the new garden make me feel?

Peaceful, Contented, and Zen.

Stuart.

[KatieC]

Hi @Stuardo,

You have created such a thoughtful zen garden that you should absolutely be proud of and I am sure your guests love to be greeted with. I am really loving your contrast in colours with the white, black, green, and then little pops of pink. Did you have to do anything special when planting the Pratia?

Katie

[Dave-1]

@Stuardo 

Now that does look peaceful! Definite improvement from what it was. I always like how stone gardens/zen gardens make me feel chilled. I also like how you have slatted the timber around the air con. One eyesore gone and a calming area instead. Nice work.

Dave

[Stuardo]

Hi @KatieC thanks,

Pratia seems very easy to work with and it likes low light and water to be happy and spread. I bought several tubestock to plant around pavers in the shade and they filled in beautifully. Some of it I planted up into pots to use elsewhere and that's what I used in the Zen garden. I cut them in halves with a knife and repotted them there a few weeks ago now and they are still smiling.

 

Cheers,

Stuart

[EricL]

Hi @Stuardo 

That's a fantastic way to use a very difficult spot to design. Corners near a split aircon units are often get neglected, and having a Zen meditation zone is a great way to utilize the space.

Eric