While I’m not necessarily a practitioner of feng shui, I do recognize good qi and bad qi (a.k.a chi or energy) when I see/feel it. I don’t need a Bagua* to know when good qi has gone bad.
After 11 years of recognizing the need for substantial steps in my mixed border, I finally had them installed. Money needed to meet need before it could happen as well. When we first bought the home, my gardening budget went to building borders, paths and plants.
Up to now, the path was made up of puny stepping stones that served no purpose other than to direct traffic from the house to the upper gardens. Now the steps also serve as a work of art, a rock garden AND to direct traffic from the house to the upper gardens.
For what I wanted, there was no other person to do the project than Phil Hathcock of Natural Stone Sculptures, in Cary, NC. He knows how to work with the land to make it look natural – as if the stones were a naturally occurring outcropping in my hill. As an added bonus, all the stone was unearthed from Phil’s property. 
According to the principles of feng shui, the best place to sight your home is believed to be near the dragon’s lair. No doubt I have had some critter issues in the past, but I can say without hesitation, I have never had a problem with dragons. And yet, I could have also said that before a deer showed up for dinner last summer. So, never say never.
The best location is to be near, but not too near, the dragon’s lair. Where can one find a dragon’s lair? Well, it is generally halfway between the top of the hill and the valley. Specifically, with the back of the house cradled by the hill. As luck would have it, that is exactly how my house is placed in the garden.
My house is smack dab in the middle of our lot, with the back gardens rising and the front gardens sloping down towards valley – in this case the road. Phil’s interpretation for why this was the best location, confirmed feng shui principles, again, without the need for a Bauga.
His input was this, “The best gardens are when you can see the land out the back going up. This way, gardens can be made to view from the inside or outside the door. If the gardens in the back sloped down, you would not necessarily see the garden. The garden sloping downward in the front is also best because the best view is meant to be seen from the street and a hill maximizes this view.” Phil went on to say that, like all good feng shui, there are ways to get around bad land or energy.
We used plants that I had on hand; mainly from the porchscape of conifers in containers. Some of these will work in the short term to make it appealing, at the same time, stabilizing the dirt.
Ta da!
I keep taking photos of it. Very much like when my kids were babies. I guess this is my new baby. Let’s hope we don’t peak the interest of the dragon.
*Bagua is an eight-sided picture or object that contains a trigram in each of its eight sides with an image of the yin/yang symbol in the center. Each trigram corresponds to a particular compass direction and aspiration area.
Inspected the progress Phil Hathcock of Natural Stone Sculpture did on the new path through Helen’s Haven Mixed border. I’m liking it.
still has too many herbaceous plants to carry me through the winter and early spring. No doubt, it is full and lush from June through frost, but I want to fully take advantage of the many species to add interest from November through June.
Scarlet Curls, Yellow White Pine, Coral Bark Maple, crocus in the lawn and elsewhere, Hellebores, and more.
success, even if it may be short lived. I use to, but don’t anymore. I find it is even risky planting plants on the zone’s edge. Ideally, I like to wrap a zone around a plant, putting me into choosing plants for zone 7a, but not always. This year, I will be replacing a Clematis armandii, zoned for our 7b gardens. But, alas, we had a particularly hard winter.
I can amend my soil. I have amended all my garden beds, one planting hole at a time. Adding composted leaf mulch or other organic matter to the hole and blending it with the clay with some added insurance of a permanent clay buster such as PermiTil, I can make my sticky clay soil friable. In any garden soil type, you cannot go wrong adding more organic matter. Then top dress the garden beds with a lush, thick layer of mulch each year to moderate the soil temperature, suppress weeds, retain water and generally tiding up the garden. By doing so, you’ll have a happy garden.
watering zones. When I garden shop, the plants watering needs are a high priority for me. But because my garden is designed in zones, it narrows down where I will plant it in the garden. This also makes my garden purchases easy. I wont waste money on a thirsty plant requiring shade if the only area in my Oasis zone is sun. Also, it allows me to have a mental map of my garden with me at all times. I do not want to spend any more time than I have to on watering. The thought of dragging a hose around, past 10 drought tolerant plants to reach one thirsty plant is not part of my makeup. I’m way smarter than that.
