Raked Sand or Gravel in Garden Design - Gallery of Examples

The Beauty of a Raked Garden Bed

If you have never been to a garden where there was raked sand or gravel, I hope you can visit one some time. They are just lovely. It is like an extra touch where it probably isn't even needed. It shows a garden that is loved and well cared for. Sometimes, it is meant to convey extra meaning as you will see below.

This hub article is basically a gallery of some different images I have captured that show examples of raked sand or gravel in gardens. The Japanese gardens love to use this form of design, but it isn't limited to just that kind of garden.

You will see photos here from Spring, Summer, and Winter seasons. As you can see, it doesn't really matter what the season is, to see how much this kind of garden treatment can add to one's outdoor surroundings.

Depending on where you live exactly, one can see how people are looking to enhancing the spaces they live in. So if you have even just a small amount of outdoor space, you can turn it into a beautiful space to live as well as the seasons permit. Raking can be a way to do that. Yes, it needs to be maintained, but I imagine once you really get the hang of it, that it is well worth the effort.

Possible Symbolism For Water

One of the neatest things I heard about raked garden sand or gravel was that it was also emulating or symbolic of water in the garden. I hadn't known this before, and it made sense the minute I heard it. No wonder I loved it when I first saw and ever since! It just also adds a touch of someone being very thoughtful and careful to create a perfect effect in the garden. I love it. You can really help to convey a sense of peace and serenity this way, even if there is no actual water nearby. It is as if there are little ripple effects in the water.

One of my favorite images in this collection is the one with a bamboo fence that is right next to the raked gravel. People have been using ingenious ideas like this for some time, to make their areas beautiful. One need not even spend a fortune on their garden to get such a pleasing effect. Keep an eye out next time you view images like these, or see them in person, to see if it has an effect of water.

A Gentle Reminder

In some of the botanical gardens I have been to over the years, you will often see a little sign here and there along the path that says, "Please Stay on the Path," or some such sign as that. The other day I was walking along, and someone had to have jumped into the raked garden area, and you see these muddy footprints all along the raked area. It was unfortunate to see, but people can understand maybe little ones running around. It shows a sign of respect for the gardener if you can stay on the path when they ask you to.

One remedy for this, for those with active or small children around, is maybe to decorate your garden with more stepping stones and rocks. I definitely recall as a child, a couple of really neat gardens where they had these types of stones along the path and we loved to hop from one to the next stone. This did a couple of things. It kept kids from wearing unwanted paths, or stepping on unwanted plants, because there are other stones there to have fun with! It also just looked beautiful.

One of the things I hope to learn about is how to create the raked effect in what seems the middle of a garden area, with no footsteps leaving the raked area. That has to be tough! This creates a sense of intrigue, or "how did they do that?" I share at least one photo here that begs that very question... "How did they do that in the middle?"

To see all the images here, make sure to click on the thumbnails, or watch the slideshow which may be even more relaxing. I hope you enjoyed some of the photos of gardens that I find so peaceful and serene.

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