DIY Zen Garden

Troy Barkman, an award wining horticulturist, shares a simple DIY that will help add a little bit of zen to your life.

Are you looking for a little Zen in your life? Who isn’t! Keep reading for our expert tips, courtesy of professional horticulturist and landscape designer, Troy Barkman, to recreate a Zen garden of your own.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

As a precursor to step 1, you want to first figure out the kind of feel you want your Zen garden to have, be it water centric, desert-inspired, or more of a mountainside feel. This should help to narrow down the kinds of materials you will need. Generally, you want to gather materials that are low maintenance, such as sand, rocks, and succulents. Each element that you add represents a piece of the earth: sand symbolizes water, rocks symbolizes mountains, et cetera. Use a shallow pan or tray to contain your garden. 

Step 2: Assemble Your Live Matter

If you’re including plants in your Zen garden, you’ll want to start laying those out first, since they will be the real stars of your garden scheme. Keep your potted plants potted, so that they grow strong and healthy out of the soil, rather than the sand or rocks. 

Step 3: Rake

Once you’ve laid out your plant babies, you can add your sand and rocks into the mix. Dump in your sand first, followed by your rocks. Use a small rake to create waves or patterns in the sand as you often as wish, weekly, daily, or even hourly. 

The best part about this kind of garden? It doesn’t care what the weather’s like outside. Happy Zen gardening!