These elements are not unique to feng shui, but are the foundations of Chinese philosophy. They are the core of our emotional response to gardening and gardens. They determine our preferences, our sense of beauty, our sense of order. We each are at the nexus of a complex set of relationships, memories and experiences. Nancilee Wydra, in Feng Shui in the Garden , suggests that we think of horizontal and vertical connectedness.
Horizontal connectedness is the web of relationships in the here and now.
It is where you live now, who you live and interact with. It is the limitations imposed and opportunities opened by those relationships. It is who you are now, your age, your lifestyle, your mental state and needs, your physical limitations. If your time is limited by work or family, your garden design should reflect those limitations, rather than fight them. If your life is filled with stress, a meditation element in the garden is called for.