Guest Author - Diane Kern

What constitutes a feng shui garden? What color of plants should I use? Are some plants better to use than others? What about shapes?

This year I am late planting my garden due to cold and rainy weather. Maybe unlike me, you already have a garden in full bloom. But I find a gardener always has room for a few more plants. Sometimes something that you planted fails and you are looking for a replacement to fill the gap or perhaps that new plant just doesn’t have the right color or texture. Or maybe you are just starting to garden and are looking for a few ideas. Do you employ feng shui in your home or office and now want to explore a feng shui garden? Here are a few hints to get you started.

In other articles I have talked about the eight trigrams and their relationship to people, the five elements, colors, shapes and the productive cycle. You can use these ideas in your garden. First take a look around your garden. Do you have any dead or dying plants, shrubs and trees? Are there piles of brush, trash or untidy compost piles in your yard? Take care and clean them up.

Next you might want to make a chart of what you currently have in your yard. Organize your list with columns for type, color, texture. If you want, you can draw a plan and color it. You don’t have to be an artist. This is just for your use so you can picture the garden as it is and as it can be. Do you want to keep everything? Is it working where it currently is? You might want to add a column to your chart for keep, move or give away.

Now start to plan you garden. Each compass direction has a color, element and shape. In the North white flowers and silvery plants work well. This area does not get as much light as other areas, and the white flowers can perk it up. Blue flowers and plants with a blue hue are also suitable for the north. Add a touch of gold or bronze colored plants for variety. Wavy shapes represent the element of the North-water. Design your beds with curves like gentle waves instead of straight lines.

The Northeast is an earth area. 2007 is a year when we are prohibited from digging here due to the annual five and li shi combination. Save your major garden renovations in this area for next year after February 2008. Earth colors are tan, beige, yellow and brown. Yellow flowers are easy to come by and you might consider some ornamental grasses to fill in the browner shades. Add some white and then a little red to enhance the earth tones. Use brick to outline the beds. Pottery planters in earth tones would also work well. Southwest is also earth. This is a late summer earth and more dry than the Northeast. Take this into consideration when you plan your colors for this area.


East and Southeast are both wood but the East is early spring so the colors of green should be lighter than in the southeast. There are green flowers available such as Lady’s Mantle and Bells of Ireland. There is even a green rose. Have some fun researching for something new to add to your garden in this color. Some blue will enhance the area. You can use tall, rectangular shapes as well.

South likes red as this is the fire trigram. Enjoy your opportunity to use red but be careful not to overdo it. Shades of orange or hot pinks also work in the south. Use some white to keep the area from visually over heating. Triangular or pyramid shapes represent fire. You will be able to find some interesting objects to enhance the south.

West and Northwest are metal. West is the youngest daughter, so make your plantings more playful. White and metallic colors represent metal and yellow will enhance the area. The shape is round. Go to town and have fun. The Northwest represents the head of household so go more formal in this area.

Now make a list of the new plants you would like to use and make a new plan or chart. It is always nice to have a diagram to show what is planted where. Come next spring you won’t wonder if you planted something in a particular spot or if that a weed or plant.