People add backyard water features to their yards in the belief that it's an appropriate feng shui element enhancer. While water features in your backyard are lovely and peaceful, they don't always create auspicious energy unless you follow important feng shui guidelines.
How to Determine Water Feature Placement
Depending on which school of feng shui you follow, you'll want to use those principles to determine where you place your outside water feature.
Backyard Water Feature Placement for Black Hat Feng Shui
If you're using Black Hat Sect feng shui to guide you, then you'll use either the North (the best direction) or Northwest directions as your two best areas for placing your water feature since both directions are associated with the water element.
Using Form and Compass Feng Shui for Water Feature Placement
If you practice classical feng shui school of Form and Compass, then you'll want to use a Flying Star analysis to determine the best location for your water feature. This report gives you all of the information you need to safely place your water fountain. You'll also be able to determine if or when you may need to remove it or change locations. Just remember, nothing in life is stationary; it's constantly changing, so you need to adapt your feng shui remedies and enhancers, accordingly. This is why your water feature should be portable. If you choose to build a stationary water feature, there may be times when you need to suspend using it to accommodate the shifting of the flying stars, which move like the stars in the night sky.
Types of Water Features for Auspicious Feng Shui
There are several kinds of water features you can add to your yard. Below are the most popular water features used in feng shui design.
- Fountain: Most popular choice
- Waterfall and pool
- Koi pond
- Container water plant features
Tips For Using Water Features in Your Backyard
Regardless of which feng shui school you use to help you with your backyard water feature placement, there are certain feng shui principles that apply to both schools.
Keep Water Feature Clean
The clean and uncluttered feng shui principles apply to your water fountain or decorative pool feature. You'll want to keep debris out of it. In addition, make sure the water is always clean. Cloudy or algae-clogged water creates negative energy by the stagnation of chi energy. If you have a koi pond, then you need to monitor the water (especially the pH) to maintain healthy fish.
Water Flows Towards the House
One of the most common mistakes made when installing a water feature is to place the fountain or waterfall so that the water flows away from the house. You always want the water to flow towards your home. The direction and force of the flowing water determines where and how much chi energy flows to your home. An incorrect water flow will carry the new energy away from your home and can even siphon off existing positive energy.
Truth About Backyard Water Features and Feng Shui
Many people add water features to their backyards with good intentions of adding a positive feng shui element. Usually, they've read a water feature is beneficial to finances and other areas of their lives. While this is true in some cases, it isn't necessarily true each time someone chooses to install a water feature.
Things to Consider Before Adding a Water Feature to Your Backyard
There are many things to take into consideration before installing any kind of water feature outside your home. In the Western culture, many view feng shui as a one-size-fits-all remedy. This philosophy dictates that you can arbitrarily add a water feature to your yard without understanding feng shui principles and elements.
One-Size-Fits-All Philosophy
There are certain principles, such as the five feng shui elements and the directions associated with them to consider when placing a water feature in your yard. Using the wrong element in a particular area of your home does more harm than good. Placing a water feature in the Southern part of your property, for example, has the potential of destroying the fire element and inviting disaster or even loss into your life.
You need to consider each of the elements and how they interact with one another. Water is one of the five feng shui elements and as an element, water extinguishes fire. Water is responsible for career and many times the money that follows a career or job.
Adding Like Elements Isn't Always Beneficial
If your backyard is located in the North or Northwest sector of your home, you might believe that adding a water feature here is the perfect feng shui solution; however, that isn't necessarily true. If you're trying to attract more of the same element into your yard, using the same element isn't always advisable. Similarly, if you were to place the opposite element, such as water in a fire sector, then the water weakens the existing element.
When Weakening an Element Is Desirable
There are times when weakening an element is desirable. Anytime a sector in your home has too much of a particular element, it can be advisable to use the destructive element in order to weaken it. For instance, if the flying star of the home or the flying stars of the homeowners are too strong and bring too much fire into an area, then adding a water element may have a neutralizing effect. You must monitor the flying stars since they move, so what might have been an excellent way to weaken a fire element last year or even last month, might be the wrong element for this year.
Using Water to Strengthen Elements
Should a water element be needed to fortify a weak water area, then adding a fountain could help. Metal is also often used to attract the water element. Weakened elements can change, though and again, a Flying Stars analysis is important when wanting to introduce elements into your home.
Backyard Water Features for Auspicious Energy
Choose and place your backyard water feature only after much consideration of feng shui principles. With careful consideration and deliberate intention, your backyard water feature can help generate auspicious energy.
