10 Small Maze Garden Ideas for Homestead Elegance

Today we're playing in 12 inches of fresh, powder snow that an early March front decided to dump all over the place. As the kids and I shoveled our paths to the trucks, to the shed, to the garage and to the tractor, the snaking trails brought to mind an idea Wendie and I had not long ago. Our thought was to construct a meditation path for us and the kids. Short, compact and attractive were the concepts we were thinking of. So, on that note, we started looking at small maze garden ideas and labyrinth designs for small spaces.

On the north and south sides of the homestead, we have some good room before the trees of the woods start encroaching. The south side will get the most sun, so that's where our planning started. A small area, no more than 30 feet by 50 feet with planting beds and miniature hedges framing a decorative path. Meditation garden design is an ancient practice, and we figured we could update it with a homestead flair.

Small Maze Garden Ideas

Have you ever walked the floor, pacing and lost in your own thoughts? The concepts behind our small maze garden ideas are similar to that. But, rather than a hallways with pictures of relatives on the wall, the path is lined with flowering shrubs, ground cover and herbs. 

A meditation garden design let's you wander in your thoughts while surrounded by practical beauty.

To begin, choose an area that will be dedicated to your land design. A gravel or crushed stone path is ideal, limiting the amount of weeding you will have to accomplish if you keep it grass or dirt. A maze garden path should have interesting features, switch backs and dead ends as well as an entrance and an exit. Those that work best have a path or two that can be traced within easily without having to leave and start over.

Homestead Maze Generator

If drawing isn't your thing, you can always go online and use an online homestead maze generator. These maze generators work on a simple principle of taking your information and in order to create a maze garden with the specifications you provide. Once you have the meditation garden design, you can adjust it to add in features and elements that the program didn't anticipate.

The standard online resource is Maze Generator, a free to use tool that is simple to use, with easy to adjust style, shape and dimensional aspects. It uses a drop-down menu bar for each of the 8 adjustable maze generator elements and produces a simple design to save and print.

Labyrinth Designs for Small Spaces

Labyrinth designs for small spaces can either be original concepts, such as the silhouette of a favorite pet, or something referential, such as the street plan of a favorite vacation spot. You can also draw from history by recreating the Minotaur labyrinth on Crete. Maybe Stephen King's hedgerow maze from The Shining is more your style?

Once your walkway gravel or stone dust path is laid, decide on the edging. You can purchase simple recycled plastic edging made for gardening, or go with something a little more sustainable such as gathered, softball-sized stones. Bury your edging halfway into the soil to keep it steady, and begin to plan out your beds.

Maze Garden Land Design

For plants, choose perennials that are hearty for your growing zone and provide a thick cover, such as miniature yew and traditional hedge species like boxwood and photinia. Intersperse these with flowering plants and variegated euonymus, hosta and plumeria. At intervals that work with your maze garden land design, add a few dwarf trees such as cherry or dogwood to bring depth to your labyrinth design.

Maze garden land design isn't about obscuring the path, but rather providing a walking space with interesting turns and elements that you will eventually know by heart, allowing you to walk with your head down, or in the clouds, to think and meditate. Your plantings bring beauty and substance to the maze garden, not obstruction.

Meditation Garden Design

Though your pathway through the maze garden remains the same, you can easily adjust and play with the plants you choose to place between the paths. Ground cover such as ivy, clover or kitchen herb selections grow well, as do seasonal vegetable varieties that won't spread wildly into your meditation garden design. 

Look at installing trellises for peas and beans, planting carrots and onions and garlic, as well as decorative and edible lettuces with the seasons.

Just as any other gardening project, labyrinth designs for small spaces rely on good soil, sunlight and water. When your soil dries on the surface, water with either soaker hoses or drip irrigation to reduce leaf molds and diseases. Harvest fruits and vegetables when they ripen. For an added attractiveness, install inexpensive solar lighting along the paths for night-time meanderings.

Coming up with maze garden ideas can be just as enjoyable as planning your kitchen garden, with more potential for adding color and flavor. Labyrinth designs for small spaces are a fun activity to create with the kids as the project unfolds, and ensures everyone will be pleased with the final results.

We love sharing our off the grid homesteading adventures with you all, and truly enjoy hearing from you. Have you ever designed a maze garden? Does meditation garden design pique your interests? Please join the conversation below to share your meditation garden design perspectives, and don't forget to subscribe for daily family homesteading goodness.