HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST
EPISODE 119: FENG SHUI GARDENING WITH WILL BROWN
Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash
In this episode we’re joined by Mindful Design graduate Will Brown of Will Brown Interiors! We talked to Will all about feng shui and gardening, and how to balance the five elements in a garden.
We cover:
How Will decided to do his final project on feng shui and gardening
Will’s experience creating a feng shui-inspired garden
The emotional benefits of gardening
How Will balanced the five elements in his garden using color, shape, and material
Which plants Will chose for his feng shui garden
Will and Laura’s suggestions for how to incorporate each of the five elements in a garden
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Will has added the practice of Feng Shui into his interior design business as an enhancement service offering a more holistic way of intersecting design with living mindfully. He offers mundane and practical adjustments that can improve the Chi within the different areas of the home even as he creates refined and gracious interiors for his well-traveled clientele.
Will’s website: willbrowninteriors.com
Episode Transcription:
Welcome to episode 119 of the holistic spaces podcast where we hope to inspire, educate and empower you to create your own holistic spaces that nourish and resonate with you. Anjie Cho and Laura Morris are the founders of the Mindful Design Feng Shui School. Together they have over 3 decades of experience designing harmonious living spaces. Laura and Anjie have guided thousands of people to shift their energy and revitalize their lives. Mindful Design School offers feng shui courses and certifications, check us out at mindfuldesignschool.com and holisticspaces.com
Hey everyone, Hey Will. Welcome!
W: Thanks for having me today. I’m excited to be here.
L: So we are going to talk about gardening which is one of my passions. I really love it. I spend a lot of time in the garden, and when we were sort of thinking about this topic. I remember back to when you did a garden and you incorporated feng shui. And that was actually your project, because you’re one of our grads. So welcome, and thank you for being here. Let me tell people a little bit about you. So Will Brown from Will Brown interiors. Will has added the practice of feng shui to his interior design business as an enhancement service offering a more holistic way of intersecting design with living mindfully. Emerging from the wake of our pandemic, Will realized that home was more important than ever for safety and sanctuary. Brown has also recognized that people not only desire to create home as sanctuary but that spaces must also be conducive for working comfortably and professionally from home. And as I mentioned, he is one of our Mindful Design Feng Shui School graduates and we’re really happy to have him here.
W: Thanks so much for having me here, excited to be here.
L: I just thought you did such a great job on that project because it was. You literally executed, created a garden using feng shui principles, so I thought it was such a perfect way to talk to A. you can let our listeners know, what are some things you can do. I think it really is nice to talk about your experience, what you went through and how you found it, why you even decided to do it. So what made you come up with doing the gardening and feng shui combo?
W: Yeah it was a few things that I’d say. So obviously I had the presentation that was part of the certification. So back online, hmm what am I gonna do. So that was kinda happening. I also had a new client who was doing a new build. And she had mentioned she wanted to do a zen garden on the property. And I’ve never done one before so I thought that would be a great challenge/opportunity. So that was also kinda brewing. Last year was so much going on with Covid. And there was a lot of, with the Black Lives Matter, civil unrest. That was a lot, that was weighing on me emotionally. Starting this new business, having to pivot. So I had a lot going on from that perspective, which actually was how I came to find you guys. So all this kinda merged together and I felt like I really don’t know a lot about working in the yard and working with the hands and garden. And I felt like it would be a good way for me to escape a little bit and it really ended up being a great, cathartic way for me to get my hands in the dirt. There’s nothing like being in nature just to help shift your mood and change your perspective. So it helped me get out of my mind and I got my friend to help me as well. There was gonna be some heavy lifting and we were going to have to mulch and all of that. I had a friend that loves to work on the yard. Together we came up with this idea, sort of a plan. But it wasn’t fully formed, even when I was digging in the dirt, and I kept weeding and doing research and then I went to the nursery and kept an open mind and just to see what spoke to me and learning about them. And then it started to come together, it was very organic, the way it happened. So I liked that we kept it fluid and it evolved into that. I did come back to make sure we covered the five elements because that was my premise once I decided that I wanted to do a feng shui pattern and that I wanted to make sure there was representation of all five elements in some way, shape, or form. That’s how it helped. It evolved from that.
L: Working in the dirt is very therapeutic. Gardening and getting your hands dirty. You’re working with the elements directly in a lot of ways, right. And we’ll go through the five elements in a bit and maybe you can share a little bit about what we’ve done. So that makes a lot of sense, and I think spring is here especially where we are in the Northern Hemisphere, especially if you live in colder climates. It’s here now, we’re working in the garden. I’m pretty far north so we have to wait for at least May to do this. So it’s just so nice to be able to get out and to work in the garden but it’s really, it’s really amazing when you can think about it on a slightly different level. Really bring in that appreciation for the energy of your garden. And say ok, if we’re going to set up a garden, plant a garden and it doesn’t again have to be elaborate. It’s really cool way to do it is to use this five element energy. So I think when you started the project you did a great job with the details. What was one, did you find anything challenging, or when you were doing it, was there something where you got stuck or did you motor on and it was no problem?
W: One of the things I think we were challenged with was with the placement of the garden. It was actually on a slope. It was sloping down. Part of the reasons why I chose that area. It was run off, it was hard to keep grass. I tried to seed it and it just wouldn’t take because it would just wash away whenever it rained. That was one of the challenges where we had to engineer a way to make sure that whatever we planted wouldn’t wash away. That was something that we figured out a way that filled in to created a stone path that the water could be trenched out and we filled it with stone pebbles so that when there was run off it could go to that trench instead of the entire garden area. Wasn’t sure if it was going to work but it seems to be holding so that was good. That was probably one of the biggest things we faced.
L: I remember we were talking about this and this brings us back to the five elements. You said you had to water and it was eroding the garden and it wasn’t allowing the grass to grow. Your solution was to add the earth element because you actually added in the brick work along to shift it.
W: There was a stack of bricks that were extra to the house that were just sitting around so I thought what if you create a way to create a barrier and a way to also create a beautiful border. It worked out really well. It was like, let’s just try it and see how it looks and it came out really well. And the other thing that I should point out, is I forgot about this, but a back step that went into my side door was actually crumbling, it was made out of concrete and it was actually crumbling. Over the years I noticed more and more was crumbling. So I thought this was a great opportunity to re-do that step. Now it’s a nice platform and we did the whole thing in that extra brick. It creates a nice little perch for my little dog to sit and look out and it looks really nice, it creates a beautiful entry to the side of the house. I liked how it turned out.
L: It’s a perfect example of the elements at work because you took, earth controls water, so it literally worked exactly the way it was intended. That I remember noticing. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about...so you are going to be working on another project — what are some of the things working on? If someone was planning a garden, what would be some of the things you would, and you are obviously thinking about, because you are going to be starting a new project, correct? Using this new idea.
W: I think I probably, just springboarding off of this project, I love the idea of the five elements. I think that’s how I will go into this next project, thinking about the balance of the five elements. Doing additional research, going deeper into five elements, really know, just to broaden my knowledge about what kind of fits within those different elements. And kinda have those as a menu of things to really think about. I have a little bit of time to play with it. I’ve been kinda looking for maybe someone to partner with and collaborate with, someone who maybe has worked on doing gardens before because I really noticed I work well when I collaborate. Since I’m not a gardener per se, I like to lean on people’s expertise. Sort of that in collaboration with what I will be bringing, I think will make something unique and different. I’m really fortunate that the new, my clients, are open to doing a zen garden, and feng shui, and having that element. So I think that’s how I’m approaching it — continuing to go deeper on how I started last year and the five elements and broadening my knowledge there. I don’t know exactly how it’s gonna look. I have the patch of space that we have, it’s actually going to be in front of the house. I did learn enough from our class — when we think about water, like fountains, for example, we learning that fountain may be better placed in the back versus in the front. At least being aware of how it’s flowing, the direction of the flow. That’s me thinking, some of those types of things I’ll be thinking about.
L: The placement, maybe even looking at the bagua a little too, which is totally separate.
W: I’m glad you brought that up because this here when I go back to my garden. I’ve gotta think about what I want to do this year in terms of how I want to plan it. Last year it was about the five elements. I think this term I’m going to overlay the bagua on top of it and really think about it. Just continuing to deepen what I learn from taking the course and applying it to this space outside. We’ll see how that goes. I’m excited.
L: Let’s talk a little bit about — let’s share what we would do for the five elements. When you mentioned that you partnered with a horticulturist. There’s quite a few listeners out there that could be pretty good at gardening. I’ve always said you learn the tools of feng shui, you learn the systems. You’ve got color systems, you’ve got shape, you’ve got all these things you can layer on for each of the five elements. So I know this about the five elements, but maybe what I’m lacking is the horticulture knowledge. I need something that flowers red, I need something that flowers purple. I want something that has a silvery-blue tone to it or something. That is where as you mentioned if you really wanted to dive deeply you can work with a horticulturist. But for those of you out there who are gardeners and know this — What I think would be cool is if Will can specifically say what he did for each element. I can share something too because I’ve done it. So we’ve got the earth element--you had that stone work which you put in which was a perfect example.
W: I actually looked back to my project and wrote notes. It just jogged my memory: I had this beautiful, almost this porous rock formation that I had carried from a previous location and it was so beautiful I didn’t want to leave it there so I brought it with me. I felt like this garden would be the perfect place for it. This reminds me of — if you look behind me there are these mountains. It had that porous feel and just knowing that you are inviting the qi to linger and stay inside this area. I just love that visual. I have that in my garden, so that was another rock formation and it was a little more organic. Thinking about making sure that the earth, the soil is enriched. You’re mulching it to keep it in and not wash away and keeping the weeds at bay. That’s what I was thinking about.
L: You changed the soil, you ended up bringing in new, fresh high-quality soil. When you do that when you’re starting your garden, that’s how you can bring in the earth element. For the water element, what did you do for that?
W: For the water element — thinking about making sure it wasn’t too much water because we had that slope issue. So part of it was just making sure that it wasn’t overtaking that. That was just one cognizant thought that I had about managing the level of water, or the amount of water. Also, I brought in a bird bath that I created. It was made out of a really simple, earthenware/ceramic bowl that was shallow and wide. I loved it. Can I show you? I switched it out because I had several of these. You can see it here: There’s a glaze in the middle and it’s very organic. I just love the shape of it. I use this as my bird bath in the garden. I put it on a rock pedestal to elevate it. I filled it with water and keep it fresh. Even my dog will drink water out of it. It invites nature to come and visit so I’ll see birds coming by, which I love that. That and in general keeping it watered, making sure that, part of that is knowing that you have to take care of the garden. So watering it intentionally to make sure things don’t dry out is another way I was thinking about that element of water.
A: For the listeners: you’re suggesting you can find any kind of beautiful bowl. Yours was about 12 in. in diameter. And the shallow ones — would they be better than a deeper one?
W: I like the more shallow because it I felt like you had more area for pooling and for birds. If it was too deep, I feel like it could get stagnant, and you can fester mosquitos. So I thought that wider, more shallow felt better for me.
A: To pick something with a decorative interior that you are attracted to, that’s a nice way to bring in the water. So we went over earth, we went over water — how did you bring in the wood element?
W: The wood — was in my planting. Wood is that tall column. So I was really thinking about that when I was looking through the nursery. I’ve always liked alliums. They’re really tall with the bulbous, purple flowering plants. So I planted those on the length of the garden. We’ll have a nice moment when they come up. I’m starting to see them come up so that’s nice. I’ve also added tall grasses, a couple of bunches of tall grass — it’s lemongrass actually. I can actually use that for my cooking and soups, which I did harvest some of that in the fall. Throughout the winter I was using it for soups and that’s how I brought the wood in. You have the mulch that was already brought in. That was my two intentional ways of bringing wood in.
L: For the listeners out there, the wood element is actually any plant. Anything that is growing, you’ve already got that going on. Will mentioned columnar, so something that has that upward growth, like his suggestion of allium. Any columnar shape, if you wanted to put shrubs. Anything that has an upright, almost like bamboo. Bamboo is like the perfect image. The color green that has that upward movement. I think that gives you some ways to work with it. I think your example was excellent with the allium bulb. So we’ve done earth, water, wood — what about metal.
W: Metal, I was like hm what could I do for metal. I was inspired by wind chimes. I found one that had a really nice, clear crystal sound to it. I placed that — it was actually multiple sounds in this one windchime, so I included that. I also included white, intentionally with some of the planting. I planted a rose, a climbing rose around the door. I was really attracted to the blooms when I saw them. That’s doing really well, it probably grew 3 or 4 feet last year. I’m hoping to train it to go on top of the door. I found this really interesting metallic, white, gazing ball. And white being the color of metal, I thought that was another element that I could add in. That’s how I brought in the metal.
A: That’s great. Metal is white, it’s metallic objects and definitely the wind chimes is an easy one to bring into the garden. A wind chime that is made of metal because it has that metal sound. It creates metal vibrations and it’s metal. That’s great. Last but not least: fire.
W: This one was interesting. I used color as my way of bringing in the fire element. As summer was warming things up, I found some really great coreopsis which is a — the flower itself is yellow, orange, to red. To me it represented flames. I planted those and they gave a nice fullness with those blooming heads. I had a couple of those and I also added red echinacea as well. I also like the medicinal element that the echinacea has as well. That’s how I brought the fire element to this space.
L: Fire is great. The color sort of lends itself to that, using red, really really bright orange too. And getting that hit of red in your garden is a really easy, simple, powerful way to bring the fire element in. As you mentioned bee balm, echinacea. You get all these bees too, which creates a lot of activity. It’s a really beautiful option. Fire element is the color red, triangular shapes as well, and anything that is spreading like fire. I think you really hit it with the color, such an easy way to do it. That was awesome Will. I like the way we could take your project and really break it down and be able to see in real time, how in real life, how this actually works. Thank you for that.
W: Do you remember I added herbs too, to the garden. I love to cook with the herbs so I thought that was another way to use the garden. Typically, I would get the herb cups and pots for my windowsill. But I thought since I’m doing a garden one, I would just grow them. I grew basil and sage and one other one — lavender. They have their own properties about them that I really love. The other thing that I liked is you can do clippings and cuttings. I use that as a fragrant arrangement around the house. It’s a great way to bring some of the outside in. Like lavender for example in the bedroom, really adds that additional fragrance, having the cuttings of sage as the clearing element in the space. Besides cooking, I really started to have fun with the clippings. I wouldn’t have done it because I wouldn’t have had that much to play with, but the garden — they just keep growing and growing. That was an interesting way that I was able to use the herbs too.
L: That's a great idea. Before we fully wrap up here. Will, where can people find you?
W: My website is willbrowninteriors.com. Instagram: willbrowninteriors. Facebook: willbrowninteriors.
L: It’s been great Will, it’s great seeing your face again.
W: It’s great to continue to learn as well.
L: Thank you so much for coming.
W: Thank you for having me, really appreciate it, loved to see you guys.
A: Thank you Will. Thank you so much everyone for listening to this episode of the Holistic Spaces Podcast. Tune in every Monday for new podcast episodes. And if you like our podcast, and this episode, please share this episode with others. Subscribe on iTunes and even better you can leave a review. You can subscribe on other podcasts like Spotify. If you’d also like to explore the world of holistic spaces and feng shui on an even deeper level, you can visit our website/online store/blog for more information on feng shui and holistic living at holisticspaces.com. You can also support the podcast by checking out our certification and mini-courses at mindfuldesignschool.com. Thank you so much and we’ll see you next week.