The shape and character of zen gardens result from the religious beliefs and philosophy which were focused on: trees, mountains, rocks, streams and even sides of the world. Japanese believed that composition of those elements has a benevolent impact on their life. Also the garden made according to the zen design needs to comply this order.

The thought and the symbol
All of the elements of nature are perceived as a symbols of ideas. The main rule that should be considered while arranging the Japanese garden is to show with those symbols some general, philosophical message, that is important in your life. The symbol should be easy in recognition. Composition of some plants and decorations may influent positively on our minds, enhance creativity or have calming qualities etc. It is also believed that symbols can improve our character traits and relations with people. For instance: stalks of bamboo placed in vase have good impact on our loyalty and reinforce relations between friends. On the other hand, low, flat rocks located next to the short plants in spots ensure your family safety and peace.

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For everyone who doesn’t have experience in garden design, the first self arranged theme garden can be a difficult task. Obviously you need to be well prepared, read a lot of self help books, magazines, articles etc. But this is only the first step. Even if you already know all the practical design tips, you’re still far away from implementation of your tailor-made cottage garden….

Where to start?

First thing you should do is analysis of your needs and exact function of your garden. Start from the project on graph paper. It doesn’t have to be full professional plan, but only initiative project, which will certainly help you to implement your concept. Apply all the items, buildings, all the other objects you wish to have and already existing trees and shrubbery, as well. Then prepare the data base of plants you want to crop in your garden (reflect short characteristic of each plant). To keep the order, divide the plants for groups (grasses, leafy, coniferous, stalks, bulbs, herbs etc.)

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