Vastu comes up often enough in our design consultations that it's worth addressing directly — a meaningful share of clients want their garden to follow vastu principles, and it's entirely possible to do that without compromising on a design that also works for Goa's actual climate and site conditions.
The requests we hear most often
Placement of the main entrance and approach path is usually the first thing raised, along with which directions are considered favourable for larger trees versus open lawn. Water features — a common vastu element — come up frequently, along with questions about which plants are considered auspicious versus inauspicious for specific parts of a property.
Balancing vastu placement with what actually grows well
The practical challenge is that a favourable vastu direction for a particular tree or feature doesn't always align with the best sun exposure or drainage on a given plot. Where there's a genuine conflict, we talk clients through the trade-off honestly rather than picking one priority silently — sometimes a slight adjustment in exact placement satisfies both the vastu intent and the site's practical needs; sometimes a real choice has to be made.
Water features and vastu
Water elements are one of the more common vastu-driven requests, typically favoured in the northeast of a property. This generally aligns fine with good design practice, but it still needs the same maintenance planning as any pond or fountain — vastu placement doesn't change the upkeep a water feature needs to stay clean and functional.
Working within an existing site
Not every plot allows for textbook vastu placement without compromise — an existing boundary wall, an established tree, or a fixed building entrance sometimes limits what's achievable. In these cases, we focus on the elements within our control (planting zones, water features, pathway layout) rather than treating strict textbook placement as the only acceptable outcome.
A design process that respects the brief
We don't treat vastu requests as a checkbox — if it matters to you, it gets factored into the landscape design process from the initial site assessment, alongside sun, drainage, and soil considerations, rather than added as an afterthought once the plan is already set. Get in touch and let us know your priorities upfront so we can design around all of them together.