Mineral garden

The mineral garden

 Values change, the exuberance meets the minimalism and a return to spirituality.  Giving meaning, find balance and serenity, are the aspirations that are expressed in the gardens minerals.

   The spirit

Inspired by the Buddhist philosophy, the Zen garden mineral born in the eighth century created a harmony between man and nature.  It is the expression of this humility that emphasizes simplicity and symbolism, a source of mixed emotions. Thus nothing is selected by chance, everything is the message and the message that transcends time, the garden uses materials “stable.”To understand the meaning, the viewer is invited to contemplate, that the door to the serenity.

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    The shape

There is no geometry in the mineral garden, avoiding straight lines and symmetry.  The limited number of plants allows the creation of a garden on a very small mineral surface, and can contain its expansion.  To give the illusion of space, perspectives are skewed; the asymmetry must be the rule.  The shape of stones and their number (always odd) holds symbolic.

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     Materials

The stone in its different forms is the basic element in creating a garden mineral.  The land must not be apparent, the ground is covered or gravel, sand and moss.  The routing is done through "not" placed in the foam.  The crossing can be achieved through a wooden bridge shaped curve.  The colors are the result of materials used, from white to black through to the ocher stones, and the crimson color for wood products.  Water may be present in a mineral garden, although in symbolic Zen, water is represented by gravel and sand that is raked to create soft waves.  When the soil does not permit direct, metal pots or earth shaped sober host plants.  Some insights hidden in candles or lanterns stone keep alive the mineral garden at night.

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     Plants

On the ground, not grass but a substitute for the foam (no cutting): The Helxine that needs a moist soil, or Sagina subulata for light soils and good drainage.  The layout of plantations should provide in the foreground plants very low: thyme , santolina, oregano, sage, thistles, decorative and grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia, Calamagrostis acutiflora, and various varieties of Pennisetum.  A little further back, the sage of Jerusalem, Ceanothus x delilianus the Agapanthus' Polar Ice 'or Tritoma' false aloe, are the junction with subjects that close higher perspective: conifers, Japanese maple, Japanese cherry, not to mention all the varieties of bamboo .

The mineral garden is attracting more and more fans because it reduces the maintenance, gives a spiritual meaning to his creation, and fits in small spaces such as terraces, balconies or gardens in town.