How to Get Jalapenos in a Zen Garden

Method

• Integrate jalapeno pepper plants into your Zen garden through container planting. Plants are typically a feature of a Japanese garden, but not necessarily of a Zen garden; a fusion of the two influences integrates ideas from each. Many Japanese garden forms were influenced by Buddhist thought and practices, and even when not strictly considered Zen, are structured to provide a calming, balancing effect to visitors. By using container-grown plants, you can move the plants around your garden, trying them out in several places to find the best look and feel, and reposition the pots if a change in plant height affects the balance of elements in your garden.

Benefits

• Growing your jalapenos in containers gives you the options of bringing the plants inside during cold weather or removing the pots when your plants become less attractive. The use of planters also allows you to better provide for the needs of your jalapenos. For example, you can relocate the containers to an area where the plants will receive more sun or amend the soil to create a better growing environment. Hand-blend the growing media using sterile soil and soil amendments, and you can spare your plants issues with soil-borne diseases and provide your plants better drainage, soil consistency and balanced nutrients than they would get if grown in the ground.

Integration

• Use stone or stone-effect planters to preserve the traditional look of the dry karesansui garden, which heavily features stone as an element. Prune your pepper plants to a Bonsai form or leave their structure intact. Jalapeno pepper plants naturally offer a strong branching, open form and flowers that are not showy.

Placement

• Limit the use of planters to a single, well-tended display; space multiple planters around the perimeter of your garden to act as a backdrop; or place a pair of planters at the entrance to the garden as a welcoming transition to the area. Use of a lone plant represents minimalism. Maturing jalapenos represent seasonal change and stand as a single, sparse use of color. You can harvest the peppers while they are still green if their dramatic red does not fit in with your concept.