INSIDE: Whether in the heat of summer or the cold of winter, there’s something awesome about exploring nature and our place in it. Creating space outside through a Feng Shui garden design invites energy flow and harmony into our relationship with the natural environment.
In the field of landscaping and landscape architecture, balance is a key element to create a thriving aesthetic in an outdoor space.
That means weighing what is known as the hardscape and softscape together. The hardscape refers to the manmade elements of design – buildings, pavers, furniture, etc. Plants and other natural features like streams and forests make up the softscape.
In the ever-changing world over the past year, we’ve found new connections, purposes, and reliance on outdoor spaces. Garden designers have even found innovative ways to cue health mandates around social distancing into landscaped areas that bring subtle indicators through hard and softscape features.
It should come as no surprise that we value balance in our relationship to nature. It also seems logical that we would look to the outdoors for protection and guidance during uncertain times.
For thousands of years, the harmony of human life with nature has been the underlying tenet of the Chinese Taoist tradition of Feng shui.
Feng shui, which roughly translates to “wind water,” does not fit a single category of thought – it rests in philosophy, art, and science.
While not all landscape design uses the principles of a Feng shui garden, when we apply Feng shui to guide the creation of our outdoor spaces, we invite peace, prosperity, and balance to flow from the earth into our lives.
That is the most basic idea of Feng Shui, an “unencumbered flow of energy”. By creating a stable space that combines flow, grounding, and positive energy, you’ll produce an outdoor sanctuary to enter everyday and every season for inspiration and calm.
What is a Feng Shui Garden & Why Should I Create One?
We’ll start with a quick overview of a few concepts that are foundational to Feng Shui:
- The duality of yin and yang
- The 5 key elements
- The 9 energy zones
When you begin to see the patterns and balance in these concepts, it turns into a masterful guide for designing your garden.
Yin and Yang in the Garden
Many people have heard of Yin and Yang in relationship to the spiritual symbol. This duality represents a balance of energy and can help guide how we choose our feng shui garden colors.
Yin refers to a passive, feminine energy. In a Yin space, you can seek calm and stillness to reflect and tap into your intuition. To apply Yin energy in your garden, use cool colors placed in alcoves and create spaces for privacy.
Yang then corresponds to active, masculine energy. Yang brings motivation and inspired energy into a garden. Incorporate warm colors in visible, forward-facing spaces with a more public eye. This demonstrates and radiates the life force beaming from your home.
The 5 Elements of Feng Shui
Feng shui rests on the human relationship to nature. When implementing this philosophy in your outdoor space, it’s important to include plants, colors, and materials that symbolize the 5 natural elements.
These elements are Fire, Water, Metal, Earth and Wood. Each of them contributes to the delicate balance between grounding and passion to maintain the flow of energy throughout a garden.
You’ll notice how these 5 elements emerge as you plan the layout and placement of your Feng Shui garden décor.
Energy Zones & the Bagua Map
Now we shift to look at a more complex component of feng shui. It can feel overwhelming at first, but keep in mind that feng shui actually seeks simplicity and harmony in all aspects of life.
A critical tool to feng shui is the Bagua map, a grid-like layout that depicts 8 realms of life, plus one center zone of Tai Chi, the source of life. The Bagua map helps you to train your focus and intention in areas of your life that you feel need balance or attention.
When you find balance in all 9 areas, you’ll enable the flow of abundance and satisfaction in all aspects of life.
Each area has a corresponding element and relates to a specific season. This helps define particular features, like colors and textures, to place in the zone.
Let’s take a look at the 9 energy zones of feng shui, which reside in particular directions on the map:
- North – Career and Life Journey – Water and Winter
- Northeast – Wisdom and Knowledge – Earth and Seasonal Transition
- Northwest – Helpful People and Travel – Metal and Autumn
- Center – Tai Chi – Earth and Seasonal Transition
- East – Health and Family – Wood and Spring
- West – Creativity and Children – Metal and Autumn
- South – Fame and Reputation – Fire and Summer
- Southeast – Wealth and Prosperity – Wood and Spring
- Southwest – Love and Marriage – Earth and Seasonal Transition
You might notice that each element connects to a particular season or transition. This…
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