Everyone who’s seen a Japanese garden would like to emulate the feeling of calm and relaxation it brings into their own homes. After all of these gardens are created to invoke meditation and reflection, and are meant to be havens of Zen.

If you’re looking for a place to unwind in the comfort of your own home, it is a perfectly good idea to create a Japanese garden in your backyard. Here are some tips to help you design your own garden:

1. Consider creating a rock garden

Designed to portray a scene of mountains and rivers, a rock garden makes use of different sizes of rocks and sand. Sand gravel is meticulously arranged to symbolize water, while rocks layered on sand symbolize mountains.

2. Make use of moss

As moss thrives in Japan’s humid and rainy climate, it doesn’t need much rain to flourish. This easily makes it a key component of Japanese gardens.

3. Invoke zen

The main purpose of a Japanese garden is to invite calmness and meditation. Whether that means creating a pond, a rock or a moss garden, the goal is for you to recreate the elements of tranquility in your own home.

4. Use natural colors

While some of these gardens feature pink blossoming flowers and red bridges, these design elements actually come Chinese culture. In order to stay true to the Japanese garden design philosophy, make use of different shades of green and brown as your primary palette. This means you should be selective when it comes to your plants. Flowers shouldn’t be too colorful as to be distracting. Their role in the garden is to highlight the green that acts as the balancing color of the garden.

5. Keep it minimal

These gardens are a testament to simplicity and purpose. For this reason, it is important to keep your design simple and small. The best way to go about is to incorporate natural materials that are functional. These can range from bamboo tubes to small stone pathways. Similarly, you shouldn’t be incorporating a wide variety of plants into your garden. It is best to stick with two or three to keep lines clean. Apart from that, it’s also going to be much easier to maintain.

6. Learn more about the design philosophy

If you are building a Japanese garden from scratch, you need to first understand the ancient foundations. This helps you understand the true philosophy behind the materials chosen and the harmony of all the garden elements. This doesn’t mean you can’t improvise or create a unique haven of Zen in your home. It only means having a good foundation by which to root your design.

At the end of the day, the rules are not set on stone as to how you should build your own Japanese-style garden in your home. It is up to you to match your aesthetics with the ancient Japanese garden design philosophy to create one in your home that invokes peace, tranquility and calm.