Feng Shui: Sand.

To create a Dry-Japanese Garden you will need to use sand or gravel in order to represent flowing water. According to the compass point in your garden, whatever animal is represented near to your sand or gravel it named as the ‘peaceful tiger’ tortoise, phoenix or peaceful dragon area. I like to think that the sand or gravel represents yin, but it can change according to the colour of the material used, if the sand is very light it is yang, the darker would then represent yin, but you will decide if the sand you have is light or dark? It’s your choice. Make sure your ground is flat and protected against unwanted weeds, before laying your sand and once down, rake it flat before using the prongs of your rake to make the simulated waves, start working around your major stone, and make the waves look as realistic as possible. If you have never done anything like it before it is advisable to research dry-Japanese gardens so that you can see how to manipulate the sand to look like waves. It is best not to have the ripples too irregular as that could cause the onlooker a feeling of imbalance.   And if you want to know more about Sand, go to the: All Good News article.