Miniature prayer gardens, or miniature meditation gardens, have been a favorite theme for me for almost as long as I’ve been working on the hobby of gardening in miniature. Here are some photos from our miniature garden archives and from a display at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in 2011. It was called the “Eat, Pray, Love, Garden” (it included three miniature gardens that depicted the eat, the pray and the love themes respectively.)

In this crazy world, we a need for a peaceful place to go. A place for our heads to escape to, if only for a few minutes at a time.

Here are some thoughts on the basics of creating your own little sanctuary, a place you can go to pray, meditate or just to sit and listen. These ideas can be applied to your “full-sized” gardens quite easily too. For a lot more information, photos, ideas and inspiration, please see our ebook, Simple Creative Ways to Make Awesome Miniature Meditation Gardens here, up on our online store.

Ideas for Miniature Prayer Gardens:

1. Surround yourself with plants. Think of literally sitting in the middle of the miniature garden, surrounded by foliage of all types. You may have to adjust the space a bit if you are planting in a small pot and build the garden to one side or the other, but try to make it so the “seating area” is at least bordered by plants. You need the plant element in order to be able take your mind off the everyday.

2. No clutter in the space or very little “man-made” garden items. No yard art, garden tools, nary even a water can. Tools or equipment will remind you of chores and it is meant to be calm and tranquil. Mini yard art or sculpture outside of the subject will only be a distraction. This is a place of peace, right?

3. Paths are good. A path leading to the seating area is very welcoming. A path going to the altar area or looping around a fountain can be soothing and meditative. Paths can evoke a flow of breathe, a cleansing of negativity or tension, (send that stuff along that path and right out of your garden and your mind!) or think of it the other way, a let the calm and peace flow into the garden, along that path.

4. Choose a focal point. Depending upon what kind of miniature prayer garden you will be creating, dedicate a spot for your spiritual figure or symbol. Place it at the top of a miniature pond, in a stone grotto, or included in a prayer circle, are some specific examples to get you started on your design. Use a miniature tree or a dwarf shrub as a backdrop if your space is limited.

5. Include a spot to sit, or kneel, depending upon the type of garden you are creating. This is going to dictate the type of garden too, whether it is for mediation (sitting) or for prayer (kneeling.) The chair, bench, kneeler, prayer rug, or whatever you use in “real-life” will work in miniature and be comforting because you can envision yourself in the miniature garden quickly and easily.

If you do not follow a particular religion, you can still create a little place of peace for yourself. There are different ways to think about it: Meditation Garden, Gratitude Garden, Yoga Garden, Miniature Grotto, Miniature Altar or Peace Garden. Our 26 page ebook has all kinds of ideas, inspiration and insight into making your own mini meditation garden, see it here.

• Find your miniature figures from a variety of religions, staked ready for the garden, here. 
• See the Miniature ponds are here. (Our inventory changes all the time, check back or join our email list to get first dibs.)
• Find your Miniature pebbles are here.
• Find miniature garden plants for indoors here, in our store. Or find more indoor miniature plant choices here at Meehans Miniatures in Maryland (they don’t serve the PNW nor the west coast, unfortunately) or the Violet Barn in New York.

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