We have a large, bare dirt garden containing oaks, palms, seagrapes and a few small bushes that is surrounded by the greenery of various grasses. Hopefully without sounding too corny, we do think of it as a zen garden in its simplicity. We pick out a few small weeds that poke up and rake it once a week, and with the darker shade from the oaks and palms and the gentle lines left by the raking, it has a rather peaceful austerity to it. We just tried to capture the same mood with a bare earth garden next to the stucco walls of our house, but there it is bright and sunny, and the garden looks stark and bland.

Anybody with similar experiences? I am a computer nincompoop and can't post pictures, but does anyone have any bare earth garden photos?