Plants & Ornaments for a Buddhist Garden
The text, photos and weblinks in this resource have shown a variety of gardens and garden ornaments...
Garden Ornaments
Pools, bridges, moon gates, rockery mountains, rock collections, stone lanterns, wind chimes, temple bells and so on. You can draw on any of this for your design, if you wish.
On the internet and in bookshops it is particularly easy to get information about Japanese gardens, which are very popular because of their beauty. On the internet you can easily find British suppliers of all types of Japanese garden ornaments, though they can be very expensive. You can also buy multi-coloured prayer flags from the Himalayan region. So it is realistic to include such things in your design if you wish.
Combined with suitable plants in pots, Far East-style rock collections can be a way to decorate a garden quickly and flexibly.
Plants linked to Buddhism
- The Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa) can be grown outdoors in sheltered places in warm parts of Britain – like courtyards in London. But in colder, more typical places, they often need to be kept in pots outside and brought indoors in winter. Would it be practicable for your garden?
- Water lilies – the substitute for the lotus in the British climate – have already been mentioned.
- Any flowers in the colour spectrum from yellow through orange to deep red, are especially worth choosing – the colours of monks robes. Marigolds and French marigolds fit this well. Yellow is the traditional Buddhist colour.
Plants for oriental gardens
- Japanese maples are beautiful and colourful and come in a convenient variety of sizes. They are easily available, if somewhat expensive.
- Azaleas are a very important flower in Japanese gardens.
- Ornamental cherries often have both beautiful spring blossom and autumn leaves.
- Ground-covering plants like Mother-of-Thousands (soleira) and equivalents can be used instead of grass.
Continue reading: Buddhist emblems.