Three Zen Garden Design Basics

Zen garden design is as a result of the need in Zen Buddhism for a quiet location for meditation and thought. And the question for the fledgling designer is how does one go about creating such a place.

What It's Not

The first point to be made is it is not what the romantic notion of Japanese gardening is - a place full of dragon statues and stone lanterns. But rather it reflects the roots of this very old school of Buddhism.

And what that means is the garden has to be a quiet place of meditation. A place where distracting elements (such as funky lanterns and dragons) have no place in the design. A place where nature prevails rather than the works of man.

Zen believes enlightenment either comes gradually or instantly, and this has been popularized as some sort of inner romantic ideal of self-realization arriving in a brilliant flash of light. :-) While this may be true in the instant enlightenment of some masters, it is not true for the majority of folks who seem to take their time on their journey.

Zen Garden Schools of Thought

There are two schools of thought when it comes to Zen garden design. The first is as in regular Japanese garden design, each element in the design is intended to be a metaphor for a much larger thing. A large rock becomes a mountain. A small basin becomes a lake. A few shrubs represent forests.

The second is that there is absolutely no meaning or metaphor involved but rather a rather modern abstract view of the garden intended to cut the viewer off from the normal thought of what a garden is. In other words, this school of zen garden design believes in building a garden without meaning so the viewer has to find their own meaning - their own sense of reality, their own enlightenment.

The Role of Flowers

If flowers are used in the design, they are used in quite special ways to draw our attention to them so we can appreciate their unique beauty.

This means that only one plant at a time is in flower. The cherry blossoms of spring do not compete for our attention; they stand alone in their beauty.

A single flower in mid-summer has no competition and we are able to focus our energy and attention on it.

And when it comes to color, we're looking for soothing colors - mostly greens. There are no hot, bright colors to stir the senses (no red impatiens!) and the emphasis is on evergreens and simple shrubs.

That's the short form of Zen garden design and a place for you to start on your own personal journey

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