Beachy zen

A garden should help you relax and reboot. That’s its proper purpose, according to the Japanese aesthetic called shibui. “We all need a peaceful place away from the craziness, and there’s no better spot for that than in nature,” says designer André Price Jackson (jackpricedesign.com), who embraces this philosophy—with a very West Coast spin—in his own Venice, California, garden. The plantings are spare, paving is natural. The artwork is easy and inventive. But you don’t need to create a garden that looks Japanese to achieve shibui’s effect. Just make its underlying design ideas your own.

More: 7 ways to design a garden of tranquility