| There is a whole branch of classical feng shui which deals with the outside environment. It is called Form School or Landscape School. But outside and inside are forever entwined in terms of how they can affect the occupants.
Most people love the sight and sound of a trickling fountain, but there can actually be bad locations according to the most sophisticated feng shui analysis. Some houses need water in the front while others need water in the back. But one generality that will be true until 2024, is that water aligned with the east sector of your property can help attract wealth. How can you know where the east sector of your property is? You absolutely need to use a compass because feng shui utilizes magnetic compass directions and just estimating where east might be is often not good enough.
Is there a bad location for water? Yes, one generality is that water aligned with the northeast sector of a house can be undermining for financial luck until 2024.
Other general truths about outside water features is that the water itself must be clean and ideally circulating. Stagnant, dirty water is worse than no water at all. As well, it is best when a multi-tiered fountain appears to have the water flowing toward a house and not away from it. Of course, many fountains simply flow from up to down and that is always fine.
What about trees? Lush, healthy trees can often be a bonus to any property as long as the tree does not cast a chronic shadow on the house and as long as the tree roots don't buckle pavement or foundations. People often worry about the pointy edges of plant leaves because of the propogation of some annoying feng shui myths. But most plants are fine. Rose bushes and thorny cactus plants should just be far enough away from foot traffic that they will not poke anyone.
Hedges and certainly solid stone walls can help shore up the chi (air currents) that enter and swirl around a property, helping an owner save their money. The house that has no definitive boundaries can make it harder for the occupants to save what they make.
Sometimes a house needs a mini-mountain either in the front or the back. How does one know where you need your mini-mountain? This is determined by calculations from advanced classical feng shui and is partly based on when the house was built and what direction it faces. The mini-mountain must be at least a couple feet above ground in order to qualify as mountain energy and an elevated flower bed can be the answer to this need. Mountain energy is good for house types that need extra support for the health and well-being of the occupants.
An example of an extremely common house type that needs a "mountain" on the front side of the property is a house type that was built between 1944-1963 that faces magnetic north between 338-352 degrees. (Again, you must use a compass).
Another very common house type that needs a mountain on the front side of the property is a house built between 1964-1983 that faces west between 265-290 degrees.
Are there any flowers that are superior to others? No. Are there any colors for flowers that are superior to others? No. These are frequent questions that I field all the time from emailers and students because they have heard that a perfect feng shui garden needs certain colors in certain directions around the house. This comes from a whole set of new feng shui myths ("new" as in dreamed up over the last 25 years by authors whose books are thin on really important material) and should not be taken seriously.
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