Feng shui has been known for centuries as a method to improve your life. It uses chi, “the breath of life” which is encouraged through feng shui to work positively and harmoniously to promote prosperity, happiness, health, career and other areas of life. Not only the interior, but also the environment around your house, the garden is of great importance to create the best possible positive chi.

General tips for the garden.

Make sure your garden is always beautiful and tidy. Remove dry leaves and dead plants, and make sure that trash cans are kept as little as possible. Remove stale water. Garden paths are best winding, so no straight paths! Take good care of your plants; trees and plants represent growth and development, the element wood. Prune your plants regularly so they don’t overwhelm the house.

The backyard.

Protect the “Heavenly Turtle” at the end of your backyard, using trees, shrubs, a knoll, a fence or a wall. In any case, don’t let the garden run down at the end. Gradual increases in your garden are beneficial, as the chi then flows slowly and can bring about prosperity. This is in contrast to a steep slope or a completely flat garden. Seen from the back door, the backyard on the right may be higher in terms of vegetation or fencing than the side on the left. It is better not to place the garden furniture in the middle of a terrace, but rather something on the side.

The front garden.

Place orange trees or lemon trees at the front door. Do not hang brooms at the front or back door. Never place plants with thorns near the front door. Water is beneficial in the front yard, but not directly to the right of the front door when viewed from the inside. Water to the left of the front door is very beneficial.

Water in the garden.

Water elements such as a pond or a fountain in the garden are important especially to create prosperity. However, do not be too lavish in this, a fast flowing river behind the house is definitely not beneficial, because the water takes your chances. If it is a water feature or a fountain, make sure that the water seems to flow in and not out. Make sure that the water flows slowly and squiggly. As mentioned, water to the left of the front door is very beneficial from the inside. Seen from feng shui, water is therefore more important in the front garden than in the backyard. However, if you have a backyard pond, take good care of it, and don’t let the water get cloudy or muddy. A backyard pond is best made Southeast or North. In the feng shui, the north corresponds to career and the southeast to prosperity.

Planting.

Just all plants create favorable feng shui, most do, but plants with round leaves are always preferable to plants with pointed leaves. Prickly plants with sharp protrusions are really not recommended, especially cacti are better not kept indoors or outdoors. Plants or trees such as bonsai trees that are kept artificially small are also not recommended, as are plants or trees that look pathetic or sad, as the name suggests, a weeping willow. Very favorable plants, flowers or trees are for example: bamboo, orange tree, peach tree, jade plant, peony, gardenia, magnolia and fuchsia.

The five elements.

Although a garden often has a lot of greenery, and therefore the element of wood predominates, it is important to ensure that all five elements are represented in your garden. The five elements are wood, water, fire, metal and earth. A balanced balance between these is recommended. The productive element cycle is as follows: water feeds wood, wood feeds fire, fire feeds earth, earth feeds metal, and metal feeds water.

Colors of flowers, stones, garden paths, or garden furniture.

One can choose to adjust the colors used in the garden to the wind direction, that is to say that in the north, for example, only blue flowers are allowed, but it means that it is possible to check whether the color is blue is clearly located within that wind direction in the garden. Be careful that there is not too much yellow here on this side of the garden, because yellow is the color of the element earth and “earth dampens the water”.

Colors that match the cardinal directions:

• North: blue and black.
• Northeast: beige and white.
• East: green and blue.
• Southeast: green and blue.
• South: red, orange, pink and purple.
• Middle: yellow.
• Southwest: yellow and brown and pink.
• West: purple and pink.
• Northwest: white, gray, silver and gold colors.

The garden bagua.

Another widely used feng shui method is one that uses the garden bagua. In this method, the wind directions are not looked at, but this table is placed over the garden to see where which areas are located. The areas in the table should be spread evenly over the garden, creating 9 equal sized areas. The area at the top in the middle always corresponds to the south. This is the area of fame and recognition, and physically corresponds to the heart and eyes, and can be positively stimulated with the element of fire, such as red flowers, lighting, candles, a barbecue, etc. The garden bagua is always read with the bottom of the table on the side where the back door is located, so from the house to the backyard. At the front garden, the bottom of the table coincides with the street side, the table is then read from the driveway or the sidewalk to the front door.

Finally.

Try to create a balanced garden by balancing yin and yang. Use stones or pebbles between the plants, because plants are ying and stones are yang. If you have a wall for fencing, always have vegetation nearby, because of this ying-yang aspect. Provide light and sun in your garden, so do not let trees and shrubs bloom in such a way that they get the light from your garden or house, but also provide a sheltered shade. Alternate colors and elements, and ensure that there is a separation or color difference between steps, paths and terrace, so that the transitions from one to the other are clearly visible. Make sure the fence has no pointed bars and points, and certainly not down or to the side, into the garden. Well-growing thriving plants are usually an indication of good feng shui, but make sure that paths are clearly visible and walkable, especially the path to the front garden. Use garden lighting to activate dark and deserted garden corners.

Let your feelings decide what you think of the garden before and after certain changes. Intuition certainly has an important place in this and can help you get the chi flowing better.