Feng Shui your garden

Fences and decking
Curved shapes are best for fences and decking. Vertical fencing symbolizes upward growth and is preferable to horizontal slats (which represent 'strangle lines' constricting the chi). These structures are usually wooden; if they're in a pa kua sector that doesn't suit wood, paint or stain the wood to the right colour. If you have a fence, paint it to suit most or all of the sectors it occupies.

Working with elemental energies
To produce the correct blend of energies, you need to choose plants, ornaments and structures that suit the pa kua locations and work well with each other. Barbecues work well in fire, earth or wood sectors. However, their fire energy will clash with metal and water sectors. You should also keep 'fiery' plants such as fuchsias out of these sectors.

Water features are best placed in the southeast, where they enhance 'richness of life'. The worst pa kua locations are south, northeast and southwest, because the energy in these sectors clashes with water. Wood suits most sectors, but avoid having wooden features such as decking in the southwest, where it will drain the earth energy there.

Earth symbols, such as large areas of stone, paving or gravel, work very well in earth and metal sectors, but try not to have them in the north (water), or the east or southeast (wood), because they will block the natural energies of those sectors.

Location, location, location

North: Greens or blues, dark blues or a little black (water), and whites, creams or greys (metal) work well here. A north garden is ideal for a water feature or a birdbath.

A good ornament would be a tortoise (symbolic animal of the north) or a 'protector-warrior' figure such as a samurai or Michelangelo's David. Make sure statues don't face a kitchen, bathroom or compost heap, because they can increase bad chi from those areas.

Northeast: The chi in the northeast supports spirituality, so this is a good site for a quiet area, or for martial arts, yoga or meditation. You can enhance the chi with lights, or a spiritual ornament such as a Buddha.

A northeast garden is ruled by earth, so is ideal for terracotta pots, pebbles, gravel, rockeries or even stone buildings. Herbs and alpines work well here; choose oranges and reds (fire), or pinks and yellows (earth). Metallic colours, as in golden and silver thymes, also fit well.