Tip Of The Month May - Garden Features Gardens are extensions of our homes, so if you like to entertain why not move outside in the summer. Barbecues have become excellent cooking facilities especially in the summer months. Any outdoor area would be enhanced with a feature such as a brick barbecue, but if you are planning to build a permanent feature, make sure it is not positioned to near doors or windows. Before you place that first brick, take a journey to your hardware store to check on what size grills are available, there would be nothing worse than having built the barbecue to find that you cannot get a grill to fit. Height is another important factor to take into consideration, for cooking on an area which is to high or low can be frustrating. Introducing sculptural features into the garden is very popular with enthusiasts. Whether they are designed to be a central feature of the garden, around which are borders of flowering shrubs or whether they are treated as incidental attractions, statues emit an energy that affects the Feng Shui of the garden. Choose the sculpture carefully. Remember that anything that is friendly or benign is to be preferred to something that is threatening or hostile. Angels and deities are wonderful because they give off positive energies. Stern-faced heroes carrying arms such as a bow and arrow or a gun are best avoided. Sculptures of fierce looking animals such as tigers, leopards or lions are also best avoided, unless they are placed near the gate of the home to guard it. Wild animals have no place in a courtyard or back yard since they give off fierce energies that can be extremely harmful. In Chinese gardens, sculptures are selected and placed in strategic parts of the garden to signify various forms of good luck. The celestial animals, dragons, phoenixes and turtles are great favourites because they are believed to represent abundance, prosperity and great happiness. If you wish to enhance your garden with these ceramic sculptures, place the dragon in the east, the phoenix in the south and the turtle in the north. The tiger is usually not displayed in the garden because the tiger energy is considered to be too fierce. The Chinese also display large ceramic containers that have been painted with good fortune symbols. These containers bring good luck when filled and displayed in corners of the garden. Water brings energy to a garden. A still pond reflects the ever-changing heavens and brings in the energy of the universe and the sun, the moon, the stars and the clouds that are reflected on the surface. Moving water brings sound and movement as it tumbles over pebbles and creates small whirlpools. Fountains enable us to bring energy of water into even the tiniest space. Water symbolizes wealth and is believed to be a good collector and conductor of Chi. Gently flowing water, entering a healthy pool from the east is very auspicious particularly when it flows slowly away. Feng Shui Harmonics Reserves all copy rights. March - Minerals and crystals February - Get Turned on With Feng Shui March - Does Your Home Need A Remedy ? March - Chinese New Year of the Boar March - Fashion, Clothes & Feng Shui March - The year of the of the Wood Rooster February - Space Clearing November - rock salt lamps October - Your Bathroom is Your Haven August - Business Success July - In Feng Shui - What is Chi June - Time To De-Cluter. May - Garden Features December - Feng Shui & Water June - Consultation Advice April - Colours and Feng Shui November - In The Garden September - Clearing Your Clutter April - Garden Tips