Feng Shui In The Garden

It’s spring so I have to write about Feng Shui and the garden. I was also spurred on by the snippet of Yahoo News I saw the other day – did you see it, too? It was about watermelons exploding in fields in China. It seems that an excess of rain coupled with an excess of growth hormones lead to a bursting of these melons. Now I call this bad Feng Shui!
Gardens and living plants are great for your Feng Shui.

The outside environment around the house was one of the original Feng Shui concerns and it remains so today. It was important to make sure the house was adequately protected from the harsh elements. This may not be as evident today when most of us live in suburbia, planned developments or urban environments but correct house placement included knowledge of wind breaks, natural barriers to flood water and an arm chair shaped landscaping to protect and hold in the positive chi energy. This was done with the natural lay of the land, the planting of trees and hedges and the building of walls. The concept of creating gardens for beauty came a bit later when people had time for more leisure activities and moved to a place when they seemingly had their environment under a bit more control.
Today there is a new school of thought on Feng Shui gardens based on the western schools interpretation of the Bagua. To create a Feng Shui one must use the Bagua as the template and follow the guidelines for colors and elements. I have seen some beautiful gardens that followed this plan and I have seen some wonderful gardens that don’t.

As a practitioner of the Classic school of Feng Shui I am not bound by the same concept. A garden must provide protection, as mentioned above and it should above all be a place where wildlife, serenity and beauty have a home.

One’s outside environment can greatly affect the Feng Shui of the house. The shape of the lot can tell us about the owner’s relation to money: does money come easily but flow out too quickly, does money come in slowly as wealth continues to build, does the perimeter of the property sustain good qi for the owner? Remedies that are placed outside can be very strong and powerful. But these remedies, as in all remedies in classical Feng Shui are specific and unique to the house trigram. For example, a water feature in the correct location can turn on the flow of wealth or release a locked house. But pacing a water feature in the wrong direction can drown the good chi making relationships and finances worse.

Feng Shui tip: The installation of a pool, pond or large fountain will affect the energy pattern of your house so do not install or build without consulting a classic Feng Shui practitioner. Instead of enhancing your life it could become a saboteur.
If this is the case, can planting a garden based on the Bagua be harmful instead of productive? No, not really because the remedies featured, usually a small fountain or metal sculpture, are usually too small to be considered true cures or remedies so they will probably not be strong enough to create a negative energy pattern. So, follow your heart and eye and create the garden you love. Seeing and experiencing beauty is one of the greatest gifts we will ever be given.

All Feng Shui schools are based on similar concepts so no matter if your Feng Shui is western based or follows the classical knowledge there are fundamental concepts followed by all. Some of these are:

Yin/yang philosophical concepts were utmost in mind when planting a garden or installing landscaping – there is sun, there is shade, there is light and dark. Too many trees shading a house can make it too dark leading to depression, not enough green makes one tired and drains the energy. Too much sun can lead to headaches and feelings of desperation.
For a Feng Shui love tip: make sure your house is not overgrown with or too tall bushes and shrubs around the house. This creates a feeling of isolation where the good chi is not invited in. For a classical practitioner, this look is stereotypical of a single, middle aged woman who is not allowing love into her life.

Energy, chi, likes to meander rather than zoom through straight lines. If you have garden paths let them curve rather than be the quickest route from one place to another. After all, gardens are contemplative places where one goes to sooth the soul. Borders also should be curved although I know this to be a personal preference and I do not believe the Feng Shui of the garden is ruined with straight borders. The plants in the border themselves have flowing lines and this softens the strict look.

Looking for a great but different book on gardening check out Why We Garden: Cultivating a Sense of Place by James Nollman. His thoughts flow, connect and almost sing. This is not just about gardening. It is about observing and creating a great life with musings that can be translated to other pursuits. He may not know it but he is a Feng Shui master.