How To Make A Desktop Zen Garden

From Antiquity to Marie Kondo and Beyond

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zen garden ideas

We owe a debt of gratitude to the centuries-old culture of Japan. Consider the complementary concepts of wabi-sabi and kintsugi, which have helped Westerners gain an appreciation for the beauty of imperfections. Japan has introduced gourmands across the globe to some delectable edible offerings—sushi and ramen, of course, but also tonkatsu, okonomiyaki, matcha, and onigiri.

Chances are that you use and enjoy several of Japan's most influential exports: Nintendo, karaoke, QR codes, judo, emoji, Pokemon, sudoku, to name just a smattering of the Asian nation's cultural contributions.

Another of Japan's gifts to people around the globe is Zen Buddhism. We'll leave the debate over its definition—is it a religion, a philosophy, a practice, a lifestyle, all of the above?—for another time. Today we're focusing on the Zen aesthetic, which is all about simplicity, beauty, peace, and oneness with nature. Organizational maven Marie Kondo has helped turn our interiors into sacred minimalist spaces; now, Zen-inspired garden design ideas are performing a similar service for our outdoor living areas.

Related: 9 Asian American Architects Who Influenced Our Skylines

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Karenagare: Raked Sand

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zen garden ideas

Karenagare, or raked sand, is the popular poster child of Zen gardens. That's largely because of the desktop version—a shallow tray, a quantity of sand, maybe some small stones, and a miniature rake—that graced so many corner-office executive desks in the '90s.

White sand is traditional, but gravel works well too. It's a low-fuss landscaping material that makes perfect sense in any xeriscaped space. Incorporating subtle designs into the sand or gravel of a Zen garden can yield surprisingly evocative results.

Try raking the sand to create wavelike lines that are both symbolic and suggestive of water and the way it moves. Or go geometrical and rake your sand in straight lines to surround a flower bed or sculpted shrub.

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Kogetsudai: Gravel Mountains

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zen garden ideas

Leave it to the Japanese to find the poetry in a giant pile of sand. At Kyoto's Silver Palace, a temple and Zen garden that attracts tourists from near and far, there is just such an attraction. This perfect cone of sand stands over six feet tall and resembles the reflection of a full moon in a nighttime pond. Hence its name, Kogetsudai, which means "moon-viewing platform."

Recreate this stunning height at home, with sand, gravel, or tiny pebbles, for an eye-catching addition to your yard—although you may want to build your moon-viewing platform on a slightly smaller scale than the original.

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Karetaki: Dry Waterfalls

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zen garden ideas

A dry waterfall is a contradiction in terms, but never mind the semantics. A lovely arrangement of stones, gravel, and sand, a karetaki creates the illusion of a stream of flowing water. It's an especially ideal focal point if your yard boasts a gentle slope, but even if the lawn is level, you can press large rocks into service to create contrasting heights for your "water" to "flow" down.

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Fish Friends

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zen garden ideas

Like goldfish for grown-ups, the big, brilliantly-hued fish known as koi are both captivating and relaxing to watch. Unlike their carnival-prize counterparts, however, koi—and the pond they'll call home—require a fair amount of attention and upkeep. To add these stunning creatures to your Japanese-inspired garden, start by learning how to build a pond in your backyard. Take your time researching the many exquisite varieties of koi and how to care for them. A koi pond is high-maintenance, to be sure, but it will be well worth the effort to have such a showstopping centerpiece for your Zen garden.

Related: Top Tips for Installing a Small Backyard Pond

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Meticulously Pruned Trees

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zen garden ideas

The Zen garden is nowhere near as reliant on actual plants as most Western gardens are. But that doesn't mean there's no greenery at all. In fact, meticulously pruned trees and shrubs make an unmistakable statement of symmetry, orderliness, and simplicity. While bonsai by definition are planted in containers to keep them artificially small, even trees that grow directly from the earth can be manipulated to exemplify a certain aesthetic, so fire up those hedge trimmers.

Not to worry if lopping off branches isn't your thing. Flowering cherry trees are a gorgeous shortcut if you want to invoke classic Japanese springtime vibes. They aren't difficult to grow, either, though for greatest success you will want to find a cultivar that is native or adapted to your growing area.

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Mesmerizing Lines

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zen garden ideas

Samon, fumon, namiato, sunasazanam, and saren are all terms that refer to essentially the same thing: rippling sand. Their definitions differ slightly, based on where they are found and whether they are naturally created or artificially raked into place; no matter what you call them, even the very act of creating them is a moving meditation.

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Mini Bridge

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zen garden ideas

Zen Buddhism leans heavily on metaphors and symbols, and one of the most loved metaphors in its philosophy is that of the bridge. Bridges do much more than provide dry passage across a body of water. They stand for passages of all types: from inner to outer, from man-made to natural, from earthly to spiritual—and, ultimately, from this temporary plane of existence to one that is everlasting.

Some Zen bridges are painted red to symbolize sacred transformation. Others are left unfinished so that they may bloom into beauty—and fulfill the promise of wabi-sabi—as they age.

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Bamboo Elements

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zen garden ideas

The fast-growing and environmentally-friendly grass known as bamboo has come a long way, baby. An age-old staple of Asian landscapes, it maintains a sheen of South-Seas exoticism for many Americans, thanks to its association with tiki bars and Trader Joe's. Bamboo is a versatile and durable material that's used to make everything from flooring to bedding, but if you're sketching out your Zen garden, you'll want to stick close to its natural state. That means either planting bamboo (to become a natural fence, if desired) or installing it in the form of a gate, wall, arbor, pergola, or pagoda.

Related: Fence Styles—10 Popular Designs to Consider

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