The principles of garden design are more apparent when snow covers the ground. Take advantage of this time when you can see the structure to plan for when things are in bloom.
Good garden design considers the architecture of the house and meshes the style of the garden with it, as well as incorporating the needs of your family and pets, such as a play area or patio.
Don't disregard your capacity for maintenance or your budget.
Some of the principles that make for a pleasing garden design:
Scale involves the relative size of the elements of the whole design: the house, the size of the garden, and the plantings therein.
A very large, tall house with only a few shrubs and perennials will look out of scale. So will a small ranch house with large flanking trees. Note the size and width of mature plants.
Balance means the distribution of the visual weight of the hardscape and plantings throughout the whole design.
An unbalanced landscape feels heavier on one side than the other. A culprit could be having all trees and shrubs on one side or even having color on one side.
Unity is the harmonizing quality that ties a design together. Consistency is important. Matching the garden style to the style of the house can provide unity. This can also be achieved with the use of the same structural plants or color palates. If your garden feels like a mess of unrelated elements, you probably lack unity.
You can achieve balance and unity through the following practices:
Repetition is a canny way of reusing the same colors, shapes, or plants themselves, which can be achieved by dividing what you already have.
A Focal point is something that draws the eye: a plant, statue, chair, fountain, container, arbor, trellis, etc.
Texture is important, so use a variety of leaf shapes, barks, fruits, or flowers.
Color is the art! Consider how you can achieve color throughout the growing season.
Don't forget the practicalities and do your homework. One of the biggest mistakes is not planning for the mature size of the plant.
You also need to evaluate the amount of sun, soil conditions, and cold hardiness zone.
See you in the garden!
