How to build a zen style garden?

You mean with the sand and the rakes?

no sand, but stones and rocks, something neat and low maintenance…

You need to water the rocks regularly.

I have a Zen type garden surrounding my hot tub on my patio.

I have large potted Bamboos, Himalayan honeysuckle and Myscanthus and Zebra grasses.

I have a metal bench with a bamboo runner and stepping stones to the bench, and, several candle powered decorative lanterns and a bunch of bamboo solar torches.

The effect is quite relaxing and I love the way the bamboos cast their shadows in the light of the solar torches at night.

The Himalayan honeysuckle is actually a large tree shaped bush that has lovely purple-ish new foliage and grows grape like wine colored berry clusters. A very striking plant.

@pinkfluther Maybe if you provided a picture or two of what you’d like it to look like, we could help more?

Consider putting a bamboo fence around part of your garden like this one

Find a small stone pagoda like this one

Get a bunch of river rocks like these to surround a bigger stone like this

You might want to add a small water fountain like this

You also might want to create a little flag stone path like this

For another water feature you can grow duckweed in a pot.

Go to your local nursery and ask what types of Japanese plants (trees, shrubs and flowers, and bamboo and grasses) they have that can be successfully grown in a small space.

Korean Grass is one of my favorite things.

@Kardamom

Oh yes, a water feature!

I found a cool ceramic bowl and pedastal at a local nursery and I filled it with rocks from my travels and water plants, reeds, etc.

The tree frogs love it in the summer. Zen frogs. :-)

If you’re putting in a water feature, allow me to suggest that you complement it with the thing that goes ‘doink’.