Serenity gardens offer a retreat from the rat-race, a place to meditate or pray, or to foster the healing process. Some may be drawn to the minimalist lines of a Japanese-style garden, while others may prefer a water garden, a fragrant herb garden, or an old-fashioned knot garden.
It helps to see examples of other gardens if you're trying to come up with ideas for creating your own serenity garden. I've always been drawn to gazebos and secret places off the garden path, but those require a fairly large space. Even if you're in an apartment with just a deck or balcony, you can transform that small space into a corner of Shangri-La. Here are five great books to help you get started.
I often wonder how people keep their gravel in neat patterns when they rake a Zen garden Becke and how they keep cats from creating a different sort of picture altogether!
You may be interested in this Daily Telegraph article (and videos) about their 'serenity' Zen garden at Chelsea last year.
