With a small-format Zen garden, you simply hide the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Since the Asian garden concept can be transferred to any surface, it finds space on the table in the office, living room or in your kitchen. These instructions explain how to build your very own Kare-san-sui garden yourself.
You don't even need plants for a mini zen garden
List of materials for a miniature Zen garden
You can use ready-made kits from gift or craft stores to build your mini Zen garden. The result becomes more individual if you carefully select each component. The following materials go on the shopping list:
- As base: picture frame, fibreboard
- Alternatively: wooden tray, glass or porcelain bowl
- Fine play sand or bird sand
- Odd number of stones
- Wooden cooking spoon
- squared timber (1 cm x 1 cm)
- Wooden skewers or toothpicks
- Fretsaw, stapler
- Glue, all purpose glue, hot glue
Instead of constructing the rake yourself, you can purchase a ready-made kare-san-sui rake, flower pot rake, or back scraper.
Step-by-Step Guide - How to do it right
A rustic wooden picture frame is perfect as a base for a small Zen garden. It is irrelevant whether the shape is round, rectangular or square. For reliable stability, the frame should be at least 3 cm thick. How to build your true-to-original Zen garden correctly:
- Remove the back panel and glass insert from the picture frame
- Cut the wood fiber board to size using the saw
- Staple to the picture frame with the smooth side facing in
- Seal any joints with hot glue
- Pour in the sand, decorate with stones, shells and pieces of wood
To build the rake yourself, first saw off the top half of the head of the cooking spoon. Then use the jigsaw to cut out the inner spoon area in a semicircle. Cut the squared timber in such a way that it protrudes over the wooden spoon on both sides. Now drill holes for the kebab skewers in the squared timber in order to glue them as prongs after cutting. Finally, glue the spiked squared timber with the wooden spoon.
tips
Have you been fascinated by the meditative depth of Kare-san-sui? Then simply extend these instructions to your balcony. With a slightly larger bowl, a little more sand and stones, you can transform your balcony into an authentic Zen garden.