Is the house too chaotic to make your own meditative space inside? Do you crave the breeze upon your face and the sounds of nature in your ears while you do yoga? If you want your own relaxing space outdoors, turning your backyard into a zen oasis will definitely be a worthwhile project for you.
Luckily, turning your backyard into a peaceful not that difficult nor expensive. Here are some tips on how you can create your own zen space in the yard:
1. Get some shade
Meditating is not all that relaxing if the afternoon sun is beating down on your face. Provide some shade in your yard by installing a retractable patio shade, hanging patio curtains, setting up patio umbrellas, extending your roof, or hanging plants on the sides of the house.
2. Build a gazebo
Picture yourself sitting in the middle of a gazebo, fully centered, and enjoying the nature around you. Sounds relaxing, right? Aside from being a great outdoor living area, a gazebo can also serve as a nice space for meditating, yoga, and exercise. And even when you’re not using the gazebo for relaxation activities, you can bring out the furniture and use it as an entertainment spot for guests.
3. Create paths
If your backyard is big enough, create some paths that weave around plants and large structures in the yard. Use rocks, sand, gravel, or a combination of all of these to create your paths where you can walk around and enjoy your garden. Make ripples and swirls in the rocks to truly achieve that zen garden feel.
4. De-clutter your backyard
You can’t exactly achieve optimum relaxation if your backyard is littered with clutter. Remove unnecessary items from your yard, such as lawn ornaments, unused furniture, empty planters, garden equipment, and toys.
5. Catch up on lawn care
Before you can make your backyard a zen oasis, you have to catch up on lawn care first. Be sure to mow your grass, get rid of the weeds, trim your hedges, and fertilizer your soil, among other necessary lawn care tasks. If you don’t have the time or skill to take care of all of these things yourself, hire a professional lawn care service to do it for you.
6. Keep things simple
When building a zen space in your backyard, you might be inclined to add a lot of zen elements to achieve the aesthetic or ambiance that you want. However, avoid adding too much. Having too many elements in your backyard is counterintuitive to the goal of creating a meditative space. So while planning your zen oasis, pick only a few key elements to decorate the space, such as a bench, lanterns, and a fountain.
7. Incorporate water in your yard
A key element of a zen space is water, particularly the sound of flowing water. Incorporate this element into your backyard by putting up a fountain or building a small accent pool.
If you want to have a fountain in your yard, there are many types you can choose from, such as tiered fountains, wall fountains, vase fountains, and ball and wok fountains, just to name a few. Whichever fountain you choose, the most important thing is that it provides the space with the sound of water flowing, which is a very helpful element for relaxation.
8. Get some bamboo
Bamboo is another crucial elements in zen gardens, particularly in the ones you can see in Japan. You can incorporate bamboo into your yard by planting a bamboo wall. Bamboo grows relatively fast and is very easy to maintain. This will also give you some extra privacy by providing an additional cover besides your fence.
If you don’t want to plant a bamboo wall, you can settle for planting smaller portions of bamboo around your yard. You can also buy a bamboo water feature and make it a centerpiece in your zen oasis or decorate your yard with handcrafted bamboo creations. Whatever you choose, it doesn’t have to be ultra-expensive to make your backyard beautiful, especially considering the fact that bamboo is an inexpensive material.
9. Choose the best plants
Finally, choose plants that are usually found in a zen garden. Be sure to do your research beforehand so that you consider your area’s climate and the type of soil you have.
Here are some of the best plants for a zen garden:
- Ferns
- Japanese forest grass
- Moss
- Creeping thyme
- Chinese lanterns
- Bamboo
- Silk tree
- Yews
- Umbrella pine
- Pagoda dogwood
As you can see, creating a zen oasis right in your very own backyard is easy and relatively inexpensive to do. If you’re craving for a space where you can meditate, do yoga, or just simply relax in peace, start planning your backyard makeover with these tips in mind.
