With a small-format Zen garden, you can simply ignore the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Since the Asian garden concept can be transferred to any surface, it finds space on the table in the office, living room or in your kitchen. These instructions explain how to build your very own Kare-san-sui garden yourself.
How can I build a Zen garden myself?
To build a small Zen garden yourself, you need a picture frame, fiberboard, fine sand, an odd number of stones, wooden spoons, squared wood, kebab skewers, fretsaw, staple gun and glue. Attach the fiberboard to the picture frame, fill in sand, place stones and build a rake out of a wooden spoon and squared wood.
Material list for a small-scale Zen garden
To build your mini Zen garden, you can use ready-made sets from the gift or craft store. The result becomes more individual if you choose each component carefully. The following materials go on the shopping list:
- As base surface: picture frame, fiberboard
- Alternative: wooden tray, glass or porcelain bowl
- Fine play sand or bird sand
- Odd number of stones
- Wooden cooking spoon
- Squared timber (1 cm x 1 cm)
- Shashlik skewers or wooden toothpicks
- Fretsaw, stapler
- Glue, all-purpose glue, hot glue
Instead of constructing the rake yourself, you can buy a ready-made Kare-san-sui rake (€15.00 on Amazon), a flower pot rake or a back scraper.
Step-by-step instructions – How to do it right
A rustic wooden picture frame is perfect as a base for a small Zen garden. It doesn't matter whether it is round, rectangular or square. For reliable stability, the frame should be at least 3 cm thick. How to properly build your true-to-life Zen garden:
- Remove the back panel and glass insert from the picture frame
- Cut the wood fiber board precisely using the saw
- Staple to the picture frame with the smooth side facing inward
- Close any joints with hot glue
- Fill in the sand, decorate with stones, shells and pieces of wood
To build the rake yourself, first saw off the top half of the head of the wooden spoon. Then use the coping saw to cut out the inner spoon area in a semicircular shape. Cut the squared wood into shape so that it protrudes over the wooden spoon on both sides. Now drill holes in the squared wood for the shish kebab skewers in order to glue them in place as tines after cutting them. Finally, glue the studded squared timber with the wooden spoon.
Tip
Did the meditative depth effect of Kare-san-sui captivate you? Then simply extend these instructions to your balcony. With a slightly larger bowl, a little more sand and stones, you can transform your balcony into an authentic Zen garden.
