Feng Shui for Gardensby Paul Darby / International Feng Shui Teacher and Consultant
Applying the Pa Kua is quite easy for the garden. If your back garden cannot be reached unless you go through the house or garage, then the whole Pa Kua is applied to the back garden and the front garden separately, by using the compass directions. If, however, you can walk into your back garden without going through the building or the garage, then the Pa Kua is applied to the whole site and your back garden and front garden become as one. If you think about this, this could place certain zones of the Pa Kua completely out of the back or front gardens.
The most powerful chi influences are from the sectors of the Pa Kua over a complete area, BUT if the back garden fell into only, say, three sectors of the Pa Kua (because you could reach it without going through the house), then, if needed for a specific reason, you could apply it over just the back garden or front garden so that all the sectors appear. The chi influence would NOT be as strong as the application over the whole site. You may need to read that sentence a few times so that it becomes clear.
Also, if necessary, different sections of the garden, could have the Pa Kua applied to them just like you would to a single room. The chi influences are never as strong, and in a consultation, I only do this if I really have to, for some special reason.
The surroundings of the garden are important. Watch out for 'poison arrows', which can come from edges of buildings, roof apexes, lamp posts, telegraph poles and bus stops. Also be aware of any hospitals, doctors'surgeries, graveyards, undertakers, dentists within the immediate vicinity. Any of the 'things' just mentioned need protecting against. The usual way is to hide it with a tree, or clump of bushes, or better still Bamboo. Bamboo is very magical in Feng Shui. Its name in Chinese means 'Heavenly Blessings.' Basically, hide the object bringing 'sha shi' and it has disappeared - 'out of sight, out of mind!'
Feng Shui in the garden is not a modern trend or design statement. It is probably one of the oldest froms of cultivation in the world. Remember that originally, after grave siting, Feng Shui was used for the planting of crops and the positioning of water. This was mainly through Landscape [Form] School Feng Shui.
There is a strong, living link through to Japanese gardens with INYODO, or FU SUI, the Japanese form of Feng Shui, but whereas a Japanese garden will definitely look Japanese, a Feng Shui garden need not look Oriental. You can have an English Cottage garden, and by using the colours and elements of the Pa Kua make it into a Feng Shui garden.
Feng Shui gardens and Japanese ones do tend to have certain traits in common though such as; they are always asymmetrical [not straight lines with matching borders, as in Western gardens] and the centre [the tai chi] is always left clear. Western people like their lawns, and in my designs I usually put these near and around the middle, if my client is insistent on having grass.
But in a true Japanese garden and in a traditional Chinese garden, no lawn would be present[thank goodness I say]. In fact the Chinese have a saying, 'Grass, good for cows, what use for people?'
Where possible, everything should look natural. This goes back deep into the philosophy of Taoism. Nothing should look out of place or artificial. Whatever is planted or put into the garden should look as though it has been there for a very long time. It is interesting to note that any rocks are chosen with care and 'planted,' not placed in the garden!
There should be an harmonious mixture of shrubs, trees, flowers and ornaments. Nothing should dominate, no one thing should overwhelm. The classic English back garden, and I have seen many, often has a large tree 'plonked' right in the middle of the garden - right in the tai chi. At least with a lawn, it is left clear! You enter the garden and see TREE, you walk around the garden and you are aware of TREE!
Balance and harmony are essential through A-B-C--Awareness, Balance and Control, leading to Calmness. Meandering curves, in paths and flowerbeds are preferred to straight lines. In Chinese tradition it is said that devils, ghosts and evil spirits travel in straight lines, they cannot manage curves. Apart from that, curves look far more pleasing to the eye and allow the chi to circulate, without rushing through and being wasted.
A big danger with Western culture is that it loves to cram the garden full and keep adding to it. More means----- more and - more. In a Feng Shui garden however[and in Japanese ones too], 'less is more.' There is never a feeling of overcrowding. Careful placing is far more important than volume of planting. Quality not quantity. My garden plans can take days, even weeks to prepare, because careful planning, emptiness, harmony, asymmetry and the Pa Kua all have to be considered.
PA KUA/COLOURS AND ELEMENTS
I explained the Pa Kua in relation to the compass directions and how the Five Elements fitted into the Pa Kua, along with the Celestial Animals. All of these become important for Feng Shui garden design.
Firstly, draw a plan of you garden. If it is irregular, around the edges expand the lines until you have a regular geometric shape, usually a square or oblong, sometimes a triangle. By joining the diagonals, where they cross, is your tai chi, the centre. Often, with a whole site, i.e. one where the back garden can be reached from the front, without going through the house, the tai chi is in the house itself. I still recommend that the middle areas of both the front and back gardens be left open and clear.
The Chinese say that your front garden is your public face to the world and the back garden is the private inner self. In Form School[Landscape]Feng Shui, it is thought that the front should be the Phoenix, the area of Public Recognition and Fame. Facing the front door as if going out of it, the left hand side of the whole garden is the Dragon side and should be slightly higher then the Right hand Side, the Tiger side, which should be filled with fragrant flowers to keep the unpredictable Tiger dozing.
At the back of the property is the quite high protection of the Tortoise. In modern urban settings, houses and other properties can take the place of hills. The whole shape should be that of a high backed armchair with two arms down the sides and a footstool at the front. This is a perfect site and is very difficult to find. Too often, in fact in the majority of cases, unless your house is specially built,we have to deal with what is already there, and that is when the Compass School of Feng Shui can really help.
THE PLAN
In Compass School Feng Shui, once you have taken the compass direction, facing out of the front door you can apply the Pa Kua over the plan. Incidentally, you should check the compass bearing, once just inside the front door, about three feet in front of the front door and then about another three feet still into the front garden. The Pa Kua is then applied. If your front door faces North,then the Northern sector of the Pa Kua is placed over it, with the centre of the Pa Kua directly over where the diagonals meet on your plan. This immediately tells you where all the other areas of the Pa Kua and hence the compass directions are. It is now a fairly simple matter of putting appropriate colours and elements in the different zones.
Remember please that the lines of division in the Pa Kua between directions are not solid and unwavering. Each direction blends into the next, so to a certain extent, the edges of the directions will be approximate, you cannot stand,one foot in the North and one foot in the North east with accuracy! What we are looking for are the major sectors of the compass and the locations which they will give us in the garden. Remember that the Ancient Chinese Earth Science of Feng Shui would not be minutely accurate down to the last degree!!!!!! [This obviously applies to houses and offices as well].
Everything placed in the garden will contribute to the chi already flowing there and will enhance, settle or complement it. From previous lessons, you know that the chi in the different compass directions has different qualities, such as lively in the North East, or slow and staid as in the South West.
PRACTICAL PLANTING IN A FENG SHUI GARDEN
This will be modified somewhat by the Pa Kua numbers of the people who use the garden and more complicated formulae. The final layers of personal astrology and particular formulae may be laid over the basic principles, as they can too in a house or office.
Dragons, the most powerful and lucky animals in Feng Shui are seen to live in unduating, rolling land. They will never live in completely flat areas of land. Gardens need to contain the symbolic dragon, different levels to be interesting and also to provide the Oriental approach of 'hide and reveal', in other words, the garden should never be able to be seen fully from one vantage point, should never be completely flat. The dragon's breath, 'Sheng Chi', is important to encourage, and so rockeries and even small hills'Shan' are to be included in your design whenever you can.
USE OF THE PA KUA SECTORS IN A FENG SHUI GARDEN
In the SOUTH EAST, Pa Kua number 4, element 'wood', plant lots of small leafy shrubs, mainly evergreens. Hebes are ideal. Greens and blues are excellent colours to use.
It is said however that blue flowers in a front garden symbolise the flowing way of wealth and so they should be avoided if the South East sector falls into the front garden. This would equally apply to the Northern sector.
A water feature in this sector [or the North for Career] is excellent as it is the wealth corner. A waterfall should always flow in towards the house and be seen from the house, bringing prosperity with it. If placed in a front garden, a water feature is best positioned on the Left Hand Side of the front door as you face outwards. Frog and fish ornaments are good in this zone as are real fish. Real fish can be goldfish [baby dragons] or Koi [which turn into dragons]. Nine fish is the best number, eight gold and one black, or use multiples of nine. In a very small water feature, have three fishes, two gold and one black. Any which die are thought to have absorbed bad chi and should be replaced at once.
The SOUTH, your 'Bright Hall', symbolising Fame, Public Recognition and Reputation should be as well lit as possible. This could be with garden lighting, or with Japanese Lanterns. The Lanterns must be lit, to be useful---in the same way that candles in the house must be lit to be called'light' remedies.
Flowers and shrubs in the South, Pa Kua number 9, should be bright and fiery. Fuchsias are excellent, not only are they fiery colours, they also look like little lanterns. A bird sculpture in the South is good, a Phoenix, or a Cockerel, Pheasant, or even Flamingo. The element is Fire, so reds, yellows, oranges and even purples, are all good colours to have in flowers and leaves. Acers, 'Garnet', 'Bloodgood', 'Atropurpureum' and 'Osakazuki,' are all perfect.
In China and to some extent in Japan, it was a tradition to have a Pear Tree outside a theatre and the actors were often known as 'Children of the Pear Tree'. If you have someone in the family particularly interested in showbusiness then a Pear Tree, 'Pyrus', would be very useful planted in the South, and you can get dwarf ornamental varieties which are really lovely.
The SOUTH WEST is the Earth Mother corner, symbolising physical relationships, earth element, and Pa Kua number 2. Any plants here should be bright and thriving, with orange, yellow, pink and red flowers. Peonies are especially useful in this sector and after a Chinese wedding a bright red peony is planted in the South West corner of the newly married couple's home. This South Western corner can be really Oriental in flavour with gravel, pebbles, rocks and Japanese lanterns. You may wish to place a Buddha, Kuan Yin, the female Buddha of Compassion in this area. She could also go in the West, area of Children.
Any ornaments here should be preferably be made of stone and any pairs of birds or people, especially lovers are very good. Also in this sector ornaments of mandarin ducks are excellent. These ducks are believed to mate for life and so represent a long, happy and deep relationship with a loved one. A pair of cranes are also good, one preening while the other stands on guard!
Any windchimes used here would be best in crystal or pottery.
The WEST needs to contain rounded shapes to enhance its metal element. This is the sector of children, new projects, pleasure, joy and creativity. It is interesting that in Japan and to a certain extent in Ancient China, 'houses of ill repute, of pleasure', always had their gateways in the West! The number of the West is 7 and it is also the realm of the White Tiger. White fragrant flowers in this sector are excellent to keep the Tiger dozing. If a pathway enters this sector then small lanterns along it will keep the power of the Tiger away. Metal windchimes and tinkling bells are excellent in this sector as are the colours of white, silver, cream, gold and bronze.
The NORTH WEST is once again a metal sector, zone of influential people, important meetings, mentors and networking, Pa Kua number 6, so the colours previously mentioned would also be very good here, as well as greys. Stone and metal sculptures are good, especially of warrior protectors. Windchimes and bells made of metal can also be used in this sector.
The NORTH - your Career and Life Journey sector could be used to place a water feature. Any blues, especially dark blues are good in this zone. Blacks can be used as well but do not overdo them. Perhaps a clump of Dragon Grass,' Ophiopogon Planiscapus 'Nigra'! What a great name.
A Tortoise ornament here would be well positioned as would be a warrior figure. You could also have a birdbath here which would count as a water feature [as it would also in the South East].
The NORTH EAST, area of study, learning, spirituality and inner self is an earth element sector, Pa Kua number 8 and should contain pebble gardens, small rockeries and any stone buildings. Stone Buddha shrines are also good in this area. It is a good place for a quiet reading zone, particularly if the reading material is about spiritual or philosophical matters. Herbs and alpines are a good choice of plants to have here and the colours can be very earthy, oranges, reds, pinks, yellows. Plants in terra cotta pots are excellent in this zone. A barbecue is well positioned in this zone.
Finally, the EAST is the sector of Family, Health, Longevity and the realisation of ambitions. It is a wood element area with the number three. The colours here should be green and yet more greens of all shades. A bamboo here placed here is excellent. Bamboo was thought to be very good for health and longevity and the pine tree specifically for longevity.
A Buddha of Ho Tai[the Laughing Buddha] or Shakymuni[the Indian Buddha] would be good here. Yellow Chrysanthemums are thought to be good in this area. There is a town in China where a lot of people live beyond a hundred years. In the same area are loads of Chrysanthemums and it is thought their essence permeates the water supply, thus helping with longevity. In this zone you could have other symbols of longevity, including cranes or deer. Ornamental fruit trees are thought to be good Feng Shui in this area.
Throughout the compass directions of the Pa Kua any 'poison arrows' can be protected by using plants, trees, ornaments or combinations of all three. Any prickly plants such as roses, holly or berberis - if you must have them - are best located on a boundary, where they can be described as protectors. Also useful on noisy boundaries are large empty pots. They seem to help 'quieten down' any noise.
OTHER USEFUL PLANTS AND ORNAMENTS IN THE GARDEN
Any trellis should fit in with the element of the sector. Square and oblong shaped trellis in earth and wood areas, although vertically lined wood fencing is particularly good symbolising growth. Rounded topped trellis, concave or convex, is best in the West or North West.
Climbing plants represent water and are suited to the South East or the North, although you could use them in the East.
A pathway should be curving and its best route is from the East, meandering down to the West. Paving stones in the North are not a good idea [Check your'Cycles' to see why]. No crazy paving should be used at all. It completely messes up the flow of chi and breaks it into tiny fragments which are totally useless for A-B-C. Awareness, Balance, Calmness and Control.
As mentioned before, lights in the South [Fire element] are very good, as are fairly tall trees behind the house, as in the protective armchair of Form School Feng Shui.Often trees and especially lights can be used to fill missing areas, if the patio is L shaped, for instance. Incidentally, if the house is L shaped, which is not auspicious, then a patio which is brightly lit can usually fill the gap.
At the front of the house, wide friendly gateways are good with gates to suit the element, i.e., metal, wood, painted in the appropriate colour of the Pa Kua sector. The gates [and it is best if there are two] should open inwards and not be too high. The drive and/or pathway should curve towards the house and not go straight to the front door. Remember, Earth element is harmful in the North, which represents Water, so avoid, pebbles, stones and boulders. In the South East avoid metal windchimes and metallic containers. Think each time of the Constructive and Destructive Cycles and you will see which elements go together and which elements do not. Saying that, a little of the element in an 'unfriendly' area will usually do no harm. A small metal windchime in the East will be OK, but it will not do much good either, pretty as it sounds!!!!
COMMON SENSE AND FENG SHUI
Never keep water in constant shade, it is so obvious. It will go stagnant and breed insects, there is your stagnant, unpleasant chi. Climbers up the house and large trees too close to the house are a bad idea, both from a common sense and a Feng Shui point of view. For instance, Wisteria, either, 'Sinensis' [Chinese] or'Floribunda' [Japanese], is best grown on a pergola, not up the house wall. The beautiful flowers then hang down like grapes and can be appreciated. Wisteria represents harmony in Feng Shui symbolic terms and at the end of this lesson, I have included a list of other plants with their symbolic meanings.
It is said that water high up, raised from the ground, as in a roof garden,or pool on a small hill represents danger, i.e., flooding beneath. For the same reason, trees raised above ground level in pots are seen as unnatural and therefore as unlucky.
Vertical fencing is seen as symbolising growth, but horizontal slats are thought to show decay and no growth potential. I find that vertical slatted fencing is so much stronger than the horizontal anyway. Woven willow panels are different in that the vertical lines are still emphasised.
Stepping stones used should be an odd number, which is Yang, preferably, 5, 7, 9 of them.Nine is excellent representing the eight of Earth, with the one of Heaven, so a fullness, completeness is arrived at. The first stepping stone should have three Chinese coins, tied together with red ribbon, Yang side up [4 symbols] buried beneath it. In Japanese gardens, the second stepping stone is often allowed to wobble slightly to remind people, to make them aware of the closeness of Death!
Sheds, pergolas and gazebos are all likely to be made of wood, so place them in Wood element areas whenever you can [South East and East.] You can get some lovely octagonal shaped sheds and summerhouses now, which imitate the shape of the Pa Kua. You can also get octagonal and hexagonal stepping stones which are very good. As most of the garden will be Wood and Earth elements, it is a good idea, where you can, and in their suitable Pa Kua sectors, to bring in the other elements with furniture and ornaments. Large pots in various colours to suit their compass directions are a good way of doing this as well.
PLANTS AND THEIR FENG SHUI SYMBOLISM
Letters refer to Compass Points.
Words in brackets are Chinese.
Camellia(Charhua) - evergreen. Known in China as 'living jade'. Red-S., White-W.
Jasmine(Luohshya) - excellent for around entranceways.
Clematis Montana(Tiee-Shiahn) - water symbolism. N.E.SE.
Shrub Honeysuckle(Reendung) - Lonicera nitida-will grow in shade. N.E.SE.
Peony(Muh-Shauryauh) - known as the 'King of Flowers', good for love and affection----keeps bad chi away, drives off evil spirits. SW.S.
Aster(Shing-Tsaii) - symbolises the power of the sun, sky and heaven.
Fuchsia(Jungguor Deng Lung) - symbolises bright lights, lanterns. S.
Hollyhocks(Rumgkueir) - ambition, progress, growth. E.
Magnolia(Muhbii) - sweet fragrance, purity---good for appeasing the Tiger. W.
Ginkgo(Gung Shuh) - friendship. E.
Paper bark maple(Hurng) - success. NW.N.SE.
Crab Apple(Shaguoo) - enhances the flow of chi. E.
Wild Cherry(Yingtaur) - contentment. E.
Peach(Taur) - immortality. Never grow at the front, never take blossom indoors.E.
Plum(Lan Hua) - vitality and hope, throw its petals onto water to attract wealth. N.E.SE.
BAMBOOS
Called one of the 'Three Friends of Winter', along with the pine tree[E], and the apricot. The apricot is popular because Confucius, it is thought, wrote many of his books in an orchard of apricots.
Phyllostachys aureosulcata - golden bamboo. E.
Phyllostachys bambusoides - deep yellow leaves. E.
Phyllostachys nigra - black stemmed bamboo, likes full sun. E.N.
Chusquea breviglumis - grown alongside paths, helps the chi to circulate. E.
Sasa varieties - dwarf bamboos, often variegated. E.
Every Feng Shui garden should try to have, where possible,-- the 'Four Gentlemen of the Garden'-Plum[N] has associations with Lao Tzu, Bamboo[E], orchids[S, SW] and chrysanthemums[E].
Chrysanthemums symbolise longevity as does the pine tree and all evergreens.
Narcissus and all bulbs-symbolise 'buried gold.'
Orange Blossom - the Chinese word for orange is 'kum', which is the same word for gold. It should be within view of the main door or the back door.
Fuchsias [S] are good because of their lantern flower shapes-bringing light to the garden.
There are many other suitable shrubs, flowers and trees, mainly placed into their appropriate Pa Kua sector by their colour.
Please try to keep reading through the previous articles, they are all interconnected. Like the tide covering a beach,or the many layers of an onion---this will ensure your knowledge and practical abilities build slowly yet surely!
Paul Darby is renowned as an international feng shui consultant. He teaches feng shui and has made many TV appearances. He is internationally registered as a consultant/educator. Paul offers the service of postal feng shu consultations - about 30 pages of room by room analysis. He has helped clients throughout Europe, America, Canada, India and South Africa. For details email pauldarby@fengshuidoctor.co.uk or http://www.fengshuidoctor.co.uk.
Paul is a Registered Consultant with The Feng Shui Society - UK. He is registered with The Feng Shui Guild and The International Feng Shui Network and is a member of the governing body of The Feng Shui Society. He is Professor of Feng Shui and Oriental Studies at The British School of Yoga and a member of The Employment Consultants' Institute. He is a member of, and a workshop provider for The Japanese Garden Society and has a Diploma [Distinction] in Garden Design.
PAUL DARBY AFSC/99/00/5 COPYRIGHT RESERVED.