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Creating a striking, well-balanced landscape design can be a challenge with exciting solutions and unexpected pitfalls. Whether you are starting from scratch, or adding elements to an existing landscape, a little industry insight can take you from good to great.
Principles of landscaping design are guidelines that designers employ to design landscapes that are visually appealing, and functional. A proper layout will incorporate the 6 principles of landscape design: balance, focalization, simplicity, rhythm/line, proportion, and unity. Needing backyard landscaping ideas? Read on to learn more about how you can apply these landscaping design principles to create the yard of your dreams.
Before the first line is drawn, a site analysis noting drainage, space, exposure, and shape/style of existing structures is key to adding function rather than new eyesores. The scale and condition of the site will impact every element from hardscapes to bed lines and plant selection and must be accounted for.
When forming our bed lines, it’s better to do fewer, grander curves that draw the eye and create interest for both our bed and turf areas. Small, wavy bed lines detract from the plantings and fail to add shape and rhythm to our plantings and straight bed lines are boring and harder to keep looking clean. Movement in beds and plantings draws interest and creates focal points. These focal points are often specimen plants such as ornamental trees or a showy hardscape feature. Drawing focus to a few key features prevents the eye from being overwhelmed and promotes proper balance in the design.
While many of our focal points are usually made up of a single tree or small cluster of elements, filler plantings should be massed plantings that promote simplicity and unity. Try to avoid the old-fashioned rows of alternating plants following the A-B-A-B-A-B pattern or planting in a completely straight line. We like to use the shape of our shrub plantings to form large pockets in the front of the beds to fill with perennial color. This gives us a great pop of color throughout the Spring and Summer without crowding the beds and giving us a bulky feel.
To that point, selecting appropriate plants for the space is paramount. Plant selection should include a variety of sizes and statures all while keeping the mature size of the plant in mind. Failing to do so can result in overcrowded blobs of foliage that detract from the landscape as a whole. Plants of the same variety look much more natural when planted in mass and growing together but a mix can turn into a shapeless blob of foliage. Local vendors are knowledgeable of your climate and how the plants react locally and can save you some headaches. Bear in mind, plantings are ever-changing as plants mature. Conditions such as water needs, sunlight, and negative space will change from season to season so be prepared to adapt as the landscape matures.
Following these 6 landscape design principles will lay a solid foundation for a stylish landscape that will serve you for years to come. If you have any questions, stop by Superior Garden Center in Columbia, Missouri to find out more about what the pros know!
You can create a visually pleasing landscape by following these six principles of design.
There are six principles of design that have been used by artists for centuries throughout all art forms, painting and floral design as well as landscape design. They are:
Balance is a state of being as well as seeing. We are most comfortable in landscapes that have a sense of balance. There are two major types of balance: symmetrical and asymmetrical.
Symmetrical balance is used in formal landscapes when one side of the landscape is a mirror image of the opposite side. These landscapes often use geometric patterns in the walkways, planting beds and even how the plants are pruned into shapes. This type of balance appears to be rather stiff in appearance and often is highly maintained. Asymmetrical balance, also known as informal balance, differs from one side to the other and appears to be relaxing and free flowing.
Using these principles, landscape designers create landscapes that are pleasing to look at and even inviting. These principles were not created by artists centuries ago, but more of an inherent visual sense that most people possess. Using these as guidelines helps designers and homeowners create a landscape that “make sense” to look at.
Any good design has a focal point – the place where the viewer’s eye is first attracted. Focalization is sometimes referred to as focalization of interest or simply focal point. The focal point is the strongest element in the design in any given view. A home’s focal point is often the front door. The landscape focal point is often something close to the front door to enhance the entrance of the home.
Each area of the landscape may include a focal point, but it is certainly not necessary. Landscape designers should not overuse focal points. In any view, people are attracted to interesting plant forms, bright colors and artistic, architectural design as well as art or sculptures. Mix it up, have some fun and create interesting focal points.
Simplicity is what the name implies – simple. Keeping landscapes simple, not cluttered or fussy is always a good practice. This is not the opposite of complexity. Many landscapes have very complex features, including the architectural design, water features and extensive lighting features. Landscapes that make people happy and comfortable avoid using too many colors, shapes, curves and textures, but in no way does this mean simplistic, boring or lack of imagination.
When something in the landscape is repeated with a standard interval, a rhythm is established. In landscape design, the interval is usually space. Plants, groups of plants, lamp posts, benches or other structures can be repeated within the design to create this rhythm. Lines within a landscape are created in a landscape by the shape and form of the planting beds, sidewalks, where the turf meets pavement and other hardscaping features. The rhythm and line design principle gives a landscape a sense of movement and is what may draw you “into” the landscape. This is what makes landscapes calming to our souls.
Proportion refers to the size relationship of all the features in the landscape. This includes vertical, horizontal and special relationships. Short people, tall people and children all perceive space differently. Proportion in landscape design extends to building size, lot size, plant size, areas of plantings to areas of open space as well as the use of the landscape.
The principle of unity is easily measured if the other five landscape principles have been properly executed throughout the landscape. Unity in design simply means all the separate parts of the landscape work together to create a great total design. Colors, shapes, sizes, textures and other features work together to create a unified space. Patterns and colors are often repeated. Lighting, special features, bed shapes and hardscapes such as walk ways all need to work together to create a pleasing look and a unified landscape.
By following these principles of design, you will be able to create a visually pleasing landscape in any space, large or small. For more information, see “Water Wise Landscaping: Principles of Landscape Design” by Colorado State University Extension.
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