zen-gardenhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zen-garden_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZen garden, n.
First published 2008

Zen gardennoun

  1. 1937–
    (Originally in Japan) an outdoor space in which natural materials (typically rocks and gravel or sand) are arranged in lines and patterns, creating a serene environment designed to assist meditation.
    1. 1937
      There is another type of temple courtyard garden, not so austere as the sanded Zen garden and ordinarily much smaller.
      L. E. Kuck, One Hundred Kyoto Gardens Introduction 15
    2. 1960
      The most celebrated Zen garden in Japan..dates from 1469 and consists solely of a courtyard of raked white sand in which are asymmetrically disposed fifteen stones, in groups of five, three, and two.
      H. Stewart, Net of Fireflies 167
    3. 2012
      Some years ago I visited Ryoan-Ji, a Zen garden, in Kyoto.
      College Eng. vol. 74 339

Originally published as part of the entry for Zen, n. & adj.

Zen garden, n. was first published in 2008.