Design your balcony as a Zen garden, create a relaxing retreat here that banishes the hectic everyday life. Since the Asian concept is based on the elements gravel, stones, moss and lines, it can be applied to any area size. This guide explains how to create a zen garden on your balcony.
Water elements are important in the Zen garden
Build your own Zen garden on the balcony - tips & tricks
Even a large, flat bowl is enough to conjure up a Zen garden for the balcony. With the help of stainless steel profiles, you separate gravel and sand, following the example of the motif bands from the Memento grave design. Add some larger stones in odd numbers without creating a geometric arrangement. Only then do you use a kare-san-sui rake to form the wavy lines.
It is important to note a wind and rain-protected location so that your meditative lines are not drowned in water or blown away by the wind. To integrate the moss element into the Zen garden, place a small mound of bog soil in the bowl or in a separate, flat plant container and plant it with fresh moss from the forest.
Allowed plants set green accents
If there is enough space on the balcony, set decorative accents with Asian trees and shrubs. The following types and varieties authentically enhance the Zen garden:
- Bonsai species such as Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata), Japanese carnation (Prunus serrulata) or boxwood (Buxus)
- Asian ornamental grasses, such as butcher's broom (Shibataea kumasaca) or Chinese reed (Miscanthus sinensis)
- Far Eastern ornamental shrubs as container plants, such as rhododendrons or azaleas (Rhododendron obtusum)
If you don't want to do without summer flowers in your Zen garden, Asian peonies (Paeonia lactiflora), the spring-flowering herb (Calycanthus floridus) and the dainty tiered primrose (Primula japonica 'Miller's Crimson') in white or sand-colored tubs are good Choice. For the balcony on the north side, the focus is on bell peppers (Pieris japonica), hostas (Hosta) and wood anemones (Anemone sylvestris).
tips
Has the concept of the Zen garden convinced you so much that you would like to transfer it to your front yard as well? Then please remember to first spread out a weed mat (€21.70) to spread gravel and sand on it. Where weeds constantly sprout, there can be no question of restorative meditation.