Backyard Labyrinth: How to do it!

A client asked me to help them design a labyrinth for a lawn area in their backyard. They had been doing some traveling and fell in love with the labyrinths they had come across in their travels. This being my first labyrinth, I borrowed a book they had showing how to plan the design. The first thing I learned is that a labyrinth and maze are not the same. A maze is a series of paths that can lead to a deadend. This leads to frustration and confusion. A labryrinth is designed to arrive at the center while leading the walker in a thoughtful and restful way to the center. There is not a deadend, there are not multiple paths. This allows the walker to mediate, relax, and focus on a spiritual journey. There are three phases of the labyrinth journey. Inward (releasing): upon entering, this is the time to let go of things that are weighty, this is a completative time, an approach to God. Secondly, Center (receiving): upon reaching the center, this is the time to mediate, pray, and be at peace. It's receiving and union with God. Thirdly, Outward (returning): upon leaving, by the way of entering, this is the time of relationship with ourselves, others, the world, in light of our relationship with God. Upon leaving, the feeling of empowerment should be with us, allowing us to accomplish what was received in the center stage.

There are many designs for a labyrinth. The most common are 3 circuits to 7 circuits. They can be circular, or square; they can be flat and level; they can have berms between the paths; the path can be much lower in elevation, like a trough. We started with a 3 circuit layout, however, we were able to do 5 circuits by reducing the path width from 36” to 30”. I would recommend a 30” to 36” width. This labryinth is level.

The labyrinth was laid out in a 30’ x 26' area. Existing asian jasmine groundcover and lawn area was removed. The lawn area was first sprayed with Roundup to insure the grass would not grow back through the decomposed granite. The existing crapemyrtle was incorporated into the walkway. The decomposed granite path is 3” deep. As for the border, a visit to the local rock/material yard yielded many options. I originally wanted to use the smooth black mexican pebble, but these were too small and the larger ones were not available. They would likely be very expensive as well. I found a round smooth boulder, but while there I selected several samples to present to my clients. These included the rounded boulder as well as some chopped rectangular limestone and prefabricated concrete edger. After some discussion and placing the rocks in an existing decomposed granite path, my clients selected the round smooth boulder as well. The other important piece was the center rock. I suggested that my clients visit the rock yard and look for a rock that "speaks" to them. The selected a rock that one can sit on and is not too large to over or underpower the labyrinth.

Existing soil was excavated to accommodate the decomposed granite. Once installed, the granite was compacted with a 150 lb. sod roller. The rock edger was installed end to end and set about ½ the depth of the rock into the granite. Steel edger was installed to contain the asian jasmine. To keep unity of the look, a rock edger was installed next to the steel edger. This in effect hides the steel edger but still gives an uniform edge in which to maintain the asian jasmine. The installation work took 5 days to complete.

The design process took a little time with the collaboration of both my clients and myself. I always say design is an evolution. We start with one idea and with some thought, creativity and problem solving a better design is developed. My clients are happy with their new labyrinth. It was a successful project. I hope to design another one!