Zen Gardens for the Masses

What is it about zen gardens? What, exactly, is their appeal?

This type of garden has its roots in ancient Japan. It is a place of peaceful, calming serenity. The most famous were found in Kyoto, Japan.

Traditionally, zen gardens are composed of sand, rocks, and maybe light plant stuffs, such as moss and grasses. Though they look simple, achieving the right balance and design in a zen garden can be tricky.

But some work done by Kyoto University has made it easier for the common (non-Japanese) person to construct their own perfect zen oasis in the garden.

Click here to read a story that ran in the BBC about this fascinating work...

Raking of the rocks and sand is part of the zen gardens ritual too. The sand is supposed to represent water and raking it into the patterns of ripples and currents is standard.

If the prospect of building your own zen garden is too much for you, consider making a tabletop zen garden in a shallow container for indoors or the patio. I've even seen a kit sold in the local bookstore to make a super small tabletop zen garden!

I'll be adding more about zen gardens to this page later, so please check back!

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