Feng Shui outdoors

1. Protect the home from severe weather by natural vegetation, topography or fences.
2. Site it above flooding and spring runoffs.
3. Place the most frequently used exit door facing the rising sun.
4. Create curved pathway to encourage the natural winding flow of ch'i.
5. Create a threshold that separates the public domain from the private one.
6. Ensure that healthy vegetation surrounds the home.
7. Replace all plants and trees that die or need to be cut down.
8. Maintain a balance of vegetation between too sparse and too overgrown.
9. Block out large ominous objects that face the property.
10. Ensure privacy.

The art of Feng Shui is guiding the movement of ch'i to ensure an even, balanced flow. In designing your garden, plan for scale, proportion, unity, balance and rhythm. Garden plants are said to grow best where ch'i accumulates (not stagnates or flows quickly) and where natural features meet, such as along bed borders, at the edge of a pond or stream and in mixed hedges, trees and shrubs. Ch'i naturally flows in a meandering fashion, not in straight lines, so paths and flower bed borders should be curved unless trying to reduce the stagnation of ch'i. Walls, fences, and hedgerows can be used to define the garden from the rest of your environment; however they should not be solid so that ch'i can flow naturally through them. Most vegetation should be upward growing.

The balance of Yin and Yang should be maintained in the garden through use of light and dark, short and tall, soft and hard plantings and structures. The entranceway to a garden should be clutter-free, with plants or objects special to the owner near it. Other clutter should be removed from the garden area to allow for the natural flow of ch'i.

Lighting, sound, color, statuary, life, movement, stillness, mechanical devices and occasional straight lines can be used to enhance certain areas of the garden. Garden seats should be placed in Ba-Gua houses where restfulness is desired. Water, still or moving, should be included in all Feng Shui gardens as a focal point. The most "auspicious" placement of a water feature is in the wealth/fortunate blessings gua.

Trees above your height or old trees should be respected and can be a focal point. Trees and shrubs are shaped differently and correspond to different areas of the Ba-Gua. Weeping trees and shrubs reduce ch'i.

Statuary can also be a focal point in the garden across from the entranceway. Pleasant fragrances, colors and forms should be planned year-round into the garden, as varieties of texture in the garden enhances the natural flow of ch'i.

Flowers and other plants have special meanings when using Feng Shui principles. These can be used to enhance a specific gua in the garden. Many books are available which offer information on the meanings of plants.

Color in the garden

Color enhances the garden according to the Ba-Gua and each has its own special significance. Red's psychological effect is energetic, stimulating, warm and positive. Too much is aggressive. Orange implies confidence, vitality and creativity. Too much is overpowering. Yellow feels bright, cheerful and intellectually expansive. Green is calming, balancing, relaxing and reduces stress. Blue is soothing and healing. Too much is cold. Indigo is emotional, introspective, meditative. Violet is idealistic, loyal and devoted.

	Contributed graphic Five Element Poductive & Destructive Cycles Pent (Click for larger image)

The five elements

The waxing and waning of yin and yang in the universe creates the five elements, or the five transformations of chi energy which are symbolized by the five types of matter commonly found on earth: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Everything can be represented and influenced by one of the elements.

In Feng Shui gardening, it is important to have a balance of the five elements. A certain gua of the garden can also be enhanced by including or increasing an element. An element can also be enhanced by including an element which "feeds" it (creative cycle) or reduced by an element which "diminishes it" (destructive cycle).