Many landscape designs utilize the principles of scale, balance, unity, and accent. When a landscape designer uses these concepts, they create a cohesive and pleasant space for you to enjoy.
Focalization is a popular design concept that draws the eye to a specific feature or area of the yard. Examples include statues, water features, and sculptural accents.
Planning
A well-designed landscape not only adds visual appeal to a home, it also increases property value. A professional landscape design can help you create a unified outdoor space that compliments your home and defines the overall theme. Additionally, a thoughtful plan allows you to regulate temperatures in summer and winter, reduce strong winds, use water more efficiently, and even include plants that work to clean the air of dust and pollutants.
The landscape planning process begins with a detailed base map, which is imported or created using smart tools that effectively represent the current topography. This helps landscape architects understand what is already in place, including existing structures and underground utilities. Landscape professionals will also document soil conditions, sun exposure patterns, and drainage patterns.
Once the landscape site plan has been established, it is important to consider how the landscape will evolve. This includes determining the optimal locations for new plants and trees, establishing maintenance guidelines, and evaluating how lighting will influence different areas of your yard.
A well-designed landscaping project should incorporate both softscapes and hardscapes. Softscapes refer to natural organic features, such as gardens and lawns, while hardscapes are non-living elements, such as pavers, sidewalks, and walls. Adding landscaping lighting enhances the hardscape features while coordinating with garden areas and plant selections to ensure that the entire landscape works together seamlessly.
Layout
A well-designed landscape layout enhances the beauty of your property, supports the functional use of outdoor spaces, and typically increases home value. Landscape design principles such as unity, balance, proportion, rhythm, and focalization help ensure a harmonious composition that is pleasing to the eye.
When designing a landscape, it is essential to understand the environmental conditions of your property, such as sunlight availability throughout the day and the soil type. Sunlight affects planting zones and color intensity while soil type influences drainage and which plants will thrive. It is also important to know the activities people enjoy most in the yard and how they will interact with each other. A simple checklist like the one in Figure 19-1 can help identify what types of features are desired and guide the design process.
The layout is the arrangement of the different plant species and hardscape elements in the design. The design principles of line, repetition, variety, and harmony are used to create a visually appealing composition.
For example, a visual rhythm is created by repeating design elements such as shapes or colors that encourage your eyes to move naturally through the landscape. Variety, or contrasting forms and textures, is an important element that reduces monotony and makes your landscape more interesting.
Choosing the right scale is also crucial to a good landscape layout. For most residential properties a 1:10 (1 inch = 10 feet) scale is ideal. To begin designing your landscape, a tape measure, good drawing materials (an HB pencil for initial sketches and a softer 2B for details), a ruler, a compass to indicate north, and tracing paper are essential.
Planting
Plants are the foundation of landscape design. They form spaces, structure the landscape, and provide visual contrasts to help guide the eye. They also serve as living partitions, separating areas for different activities and creating boundaries that effectively organize and structure outdoor space. They can be used to solve problems, such as screen unsightly views, solve slope erosion issues through invasive roots and fibrous growth, or even block cold north winds with hedging.
Proper planting is the final piece of a comprehensive landscape design plan and involves many considerations. These include form, balance, texture, color, and movement. The form of a planting can be either formal (symmetrical) or informal (asymmetrical). Balance is the balance of proportion, color, size, and placement of all elements within a composition. The use of repetition in planting can create patterns and rhythm that are pleasing to the eye. These can be geometric or based on perspective.
The texture is the feel of a plant; it can be smooth or rough, soft or hard, light or dark. This helps to create depth and interest in planting and is achieved through the use of texture themes. Color is a critical component in a successful planting. Plantings incorporating warm or cool hues, as well as the colors of paving and other hardscape solutions, can elevate landscape designs significantly.
Maintenance
Maintaining a landscape requires regular upkeep to ensure it stays healthy and attractive. Proper landscaping maintenance is an investment that can increase property value and provide numerous benefits for homeowners and businesses alike.
It is important to understand the importance of maintaining a landscape, as it plays a significant role in the health and well-being of a community. Studies show that well-maintained landscapes contribute to reduced stress levels, improved productivity, and higher overall quality of life. Landscaping also offers several environmental benefits, such as reducing energy costs by lowering the temperature around homes and buildings through tree canopy coverage, minimizing stormwater runoff, and enhancing the ecosystem by fostering biodiversity.
Throughout history, people have manipulated the natural landscape for aesthetic reasons and efficiency. The development of new technologies and media such as photography, aviation, and the automobile have helped influence the landscape through their ability to alter and shape it. For example, the ability to photograph from above has aided practitioners in further shaping the landscape as they can now visualize their visions on a much larger scale. Frederick Law Olmsted and Baron Georges-Eugene Haussman are some of the best-known landscape architects whose work helped reshape urban areas through their design and planning. Today, landscape architects may be found working in private companies, government agencies, and non-profit organizations where their responsibilities may include design, project management, and client liaison.