How To Make Your Own Zen Garden Within The Budget

When we think of the Zen garden, the one thing that comes into our mind is calm, peace, serenity, and the best place to start your meditation practice. 

Creating your own Zen garden is the best way to make your own required meditative space in your yard. There are numerous colors available that you can use to create an elaborative and serenity garden in your yard. But these colors should be of calming effects as we are creating a Zen garden, not a fancy and designer one. 

For making your own Zen garden, you need to be a little idolizer of nature who is eager to interpret with symbols to incorporate in their garden design beautifully. 

Zen garden is not a very great idea for those who are not much fond of gardens and low-maintenance lovers as it will require a lot of time and passion for taking care of this garden. 

These gardens may look at you but require lots of passion for maintaining it properly. In case you love showy plants and love to grow big trees, then this may be not a great choice for you. 

However, if all this doesn’t matter to you and your love for gardening is greater than anything else, then the Zen garden is made for you only. 

What Is Zen Garden?

Japan is an island with a mountainous landscape ocean around all over. This is an awe-inspiring region with the beauty of raw nature. Japanese people appreciate the beauty of raw nature that has come out of the way of a Zen garden. 

This garden design was first innovated by the Buddhist monks and featured the miniature landscapes as they symbolize natures.

The sand used in designing this garden reflects ripples like ocean waves and narrow-tall boulders that project like vertical mountains. 

In addition to this, round and flat rocks depict the beauty of sea sand. In the Zen garden, plants are also used in this design that depicts the essential part of nature. However, the use of plants in western Zen garden designs is highly restricted. 

You can grow small green plants around your garden that depict the island vegetation. If you use shrubs and short trees, make sure that they should be pruned meticulously from time to time. These shrubs and short trees should be pruned in a way that represents the island. 

Zen garden is characterized by various ways as it uses artistic quality, stark. This Zen garden design is easily compared with the English gardening design called the cottage garden. These gardens are also considered as the minimalist garden design. Raked gravel is used to represent the symbolic design for water leads to feature the dry landscape in the garden. 

The use of heavy rocks in the design leads to this garden as the Japanese rock garden; however, the intent to design these gardens like meditation, calm, or peace, varies. 

Thus, if you are a garden lover and want to create a peace giving place in your yard that soothes you every time you enter in your garden, then Zen garden is a choice for you. 

As now we have learned what is the science behind the Zen garden and what are its features, now learn how to design one for yourself. 

Tools And Materials You Need

• Shovel
• Rocks of various size and shape
• White Gravel
• Hoe
• Garden Shoes
• Stakes, string, and string level
• Steel garden rake
• Wooden Zen rake
• Tamper
• Edging stones
• Back brace
• Work Gloves
• Landscape fabric

Steps To Create Your Own Zen Garden

• First, clear your yard if there is any debris deposited like dead plants, stones, weeds, and leaves.
• Remove the top layer of soil using a shovel about a few inches.
• Check the level of the garden using the pounding stakes into the ground, lengthwise and widthwise, and tie strings in between them as well as make use of these string levels.
• Use steel garden rake for uneven spots
• Tamp down the garden soil
• Now put the stone edging along the lattice fence. Cobblestone is one of the good choices. This stone edging helps in retaining white gravel. 
• Now dig holes to place rocks so that it depicts mountains and islands. You arrange stones by yourself, but make sure to put them in a way that depicts nature. You are also needed to dig holes for planting trees, so do this whole job meanwhile.
• Put the rocks and plants into the holes. Make sure to put the rocks inside the holes. This will make the rocks and your garden look more natural and represent nature in minimal size. These buried rocks will look like short mountains in your garden, giving it natural beauty. 
• Now you have to lay the landscape fabric on the top of the soil by cutting it accordingly with the plants and rocks.
• Use white gravel about a few inches and spread it by using a hoe. Make swirls and rake ripples using the wooden Zen rake. 
• The main part of this garden design is maintenance, and you have to check the garden regularly. Make sure everything should be in place, plants and trees are in perfect shape and size. If you find anything not looking appropriate like a Zen garden, then you should have to incorporate these steps. 

Pro Tip: Inspect your Zen garden regularly so that it remains in its best condition. Small plants like bonsai are best for your garden. Make sure not to add so many things in the garden; it should be minimalistic. 

Best Trees And Plants For Zen Garden

The selection of plants is the main part of the Zen garden. As it is a minimalistic design and does not require much adornment, plants play a crucial part in making these garden designs. 

Here below are the same plants that you should include in your Zen garden:

• Moss
• Deutzia
• Creeping Thyme
• Creeping Lanterns
• Corkscrew Rush
• Pachysandra
• Ferns
• Chinese Junipers
• Yews
• Japanese Forest Grass
• Horsetail
• Bamboo
• Silk Tree
• Umbrella Pine
• Crimson Queen Japanese maple
• Miniature Pines
• Evergreen Azaleas
• Snow Fountains Weeping Cherry

Final Words

This is one of the best garden designs that you can try in your yard. You may require to put your lots of time into creating this Zen garden design, but the result you will get is out of your imagination. 

This will change the entire look of your home and will mesmerize everyone who gets mesmerized as they enter your house. 

It will also become your favorite place for meditation practice or getting peace after a long hectic day. 

It is a beautiful garden design that also looks great even in daylight as well as in the lights of the evening.