Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art that tries to arrange furniture and other possessions in such a way that you and your environment live harmoniously together. It will also fill your house (space) with positive energy.

Ergo, you can also try to design your garden using this old philosophy for a place in nature that is tranquil, inviting, relaxing and energizing. Whether you believe this or not, the use of feng shui design will make your garden into a real oasis which is attractive and pleasing.

Feng shui operates on five elements:

• Water (a bird bath, a fountain)
• Wood (arbor, bench, planting boxes)
• Fire (lights, grill)
• Earth (soil, clay pots, boulders)
• Metal (arbor, seating, wind chimes)

If you want to make a feng shui garden, you can best start with the entrance. People should see where they can come in, for instance by putting up an arbor. The ideal location for this entrance is facing south, as we all know that there you’ll get a maximum of sun exposure.

There are no specific feng shui plants, but the use of color can be important. It is known that color can influence our mood. Warm colors, like red and yellow lift up your energy, while cooler colors, like purple or white, soothe the spirit. Experts claim that it is recommended to have flowers or plants of different colors in the garden, but keep them in separate areas.

A basic principle of feng shui is balance and diversity; another is to minimize clutter. You can apply these principles by putting not too many plants or flowers in one area. Those among you who love to garden, will have a hard time at this – at the start of the season, the plants are still small and the patches look so empty! Therefore, they plant a lot of them. But as the plants grow, and the season passes by, the space becomes overgrown.

In spring, you can have flowers such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, primroses or daisies. Remember though, that the accent should be on color and coordination, rather than on type. It is also nice to add some plant herbs as lavender, sage or thyme.

Next to plants and flowers, a feng shui garden should also have a bird bath. It’s not only nice for the birds that come to visit, but also for the people. Water has a soothing capacity and is also a natural form of bug control, because birds eat pest insects. If you don’t have the space for a bird bath, then a simple electric fountain will do too.

For the evenings, you’ll need lights. They represent another feng shui element. You can for instance build an outdoor hearth, if you like to grill a lot.

A garden bench will introduce the wood element in your garden. Restrict on the number of plants around it, and be careful when you add wind chimes. Too much of them spoil the rest of this place.