HoneyBerry
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Conveying Energy in Landscape Design

I'm an artist so it is not surprising that I found this article to be very interesting. I want to share it with you in case you might find it inspiring:

https://www.finegardening.com/conveying-energy-landscape

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

It is similar to Feng Shui.

HoneyBerry
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That's what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure because I don't know very much about Feng Shui.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I only know a few things from a seminar
Water should flow toward the house to bring good chi in
Entrances should have soft plants not spikey ones. Spikes, thorns are unwelcoming
Red attracts. Red leaved plants should line the path to the door and a door painted red makes the entrance more visible.
Mirrors to reflect- There are places to put mirrors to reflect bad chi back onto itself.
You want to balance the five elements in nature wood, water, metal, fire, and earth,
Key features are mountains, greenery and water. Raised berms can represent the mountains, while shrubs and trees are the greenery and water can be a fountain, pool, or birdbath or if you don't actually want a water feature you can create a dry riverbed with smooth round stones instead to represent water.
Fire would be represented by lanterns, torches, firepits
Metal = wind chimes, planters, arbors
Wood = wooden bridges, arbor, planters, box, bench.
You want flow in the garden with curved pathways and layering without obstructing, you don't want to see fallen branches or obstructions in your path and you want to layer plants so that their is an unobstructed view from multiple angles, but at the same time the view changes subtly when seen from a different angle. the path winds and is wide enough for two to walk comfortabley side by side. You want to abvoid a narrow path and sharp corners. If you have to go around the corner make the path wider otherwise you unconsiously will walk farther out to avoid the corner.

HoneyBerry
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Thank you. It makes sense. Everything is about energy really. Now all I need is some money to buy a place with Feng Shui landscaping. I do have some wind chimes, the really good kind. The sounds they produce are wonderful. They make my bird perk up. He loves the chimes. It is fun to watch how he responds to the music of the wind chimes. It has a tremendous effect on him.

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Be careful about the wind chimes. I had to take mine down at night and on breezy days, it gets too noisy.

Actually after the seminar I analyzed the feng shui of my house.

Now, I understand why people kept leaving flyers on my garage door. I have a Caribbean copper plant and dwarf acalypha on the side of the house that leads to my garage door which is not visible from the street. You have to walk on the sidewalk to get to it. I do have the same doors on my garage as my front door.

My front door is on the opposite side of the driveway the path is not rounded but it is wide enough, but on that side I have thorny roses and hibiscus about 4 ft tall so the front entry is obscured. I also have an entry gate that is the same color as the fence and there is a rose planted right next to it, and my door has a wood stain behind a screen door.

I can't really move the roses, it is the best place for them to be close to the street light, but I could change the ground cover to something red and I have taken out the rose that was closest to the sidewalk and put in softer lower plants. The hibiscus could be trimmed a little shorter. I cannot change the color of the gate since I have to deal with the HOA. But I have put out a welcome sign and I am looking for a nicer bell for the gate. I use fishing bells for the gate now. I do have a bird bath that I can put in place where I took out the rose.

HoneyBerry
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Actually, I keep all of my higher quality chimes indoors. I have a couple of cheap ones outside in the covered porch, just for fun.

I have a nice collection of Woodstock chimes: Pluto, Earth, Mars, Mercury & Neptune. I really enjoy these high quality chimes. I love them and so does my bird. I want to buy more of them. I can't seem to get enough Woodstock chimes. Some that I am considering are: Amazing Grace Sonnet, Pachelbel Canon, Bells of Paradise & Tibetian Prayer. I want to have them hanging all over the place. The sounds are so pure and soothing. I wonder what the Moonlight Waves chimes sound like? Maybe I'll get that one next.

Feng Shui is fascinating, especially for gardens. I pronounced it wrong at first FENG SHOO-EE and the people who knew better got a good laugh out of that.

Sometimes people don't want their yard to be welcoming. Sometimes barriers are a good thing. I like the way my friend's yard has a unwelcome look on the outside of the fence, and a heavy fence that is difficult to penetrate, but once you are inside, the yard is pleasant & welcoming. I need to analyze the Feng Shui for their place. It's a fixed up very old house, so some things are set. That can be my practice Feng Shui analysis. I'll pretend like I'm their architect giving them some Feng Shui advice.

I like your red ground cover idea. And the bird bath, of course. Feng Shui is fun!

imafan26
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Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I had chimes in the house but when the door was open on a windy day they got all tangled and they echoed in the house too. I have switched out the chimes in the house for a quiet mobile I got from the Acquarium. No noise and as long as the the breeze is gentle, the fish just swim around.



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