Homeowners often think that landscaping is a simple undertaking, after all, how hard can it be to dig a hole and drop a flower in it, right?
In a sense, landscaping is like an art and science in itself, and requires some careful thought and planning if it is to be carried out properly, and the first things that you need to know are the different basic principles that govern landscaping design.
For one, you need to consider the different colors of the plants that you will put in your lawn or garden. There are some colors that complement each other, while there are those that simply do not. You may think that a colorful garden is great, and that is true, but if the colors pretty much contradict each other, the results can be quite devastating.
Aside from the colors of the plants and flowers that you are going to use, you also need to consider the linear and geometric patterns that you intend to use. These patterns help to “divide” the area, and thus help to add balance to the space. Some of the areas where these patterns are applied are in walkways and flower boxes.
The sizes of the plants also matter since this affects balance. Using oversized trees and shrubs will overpower the other elements in your landscape, in the same sense that using very small plants will make your house look bigger and disproportionate with your landscape.
Another basic consideration when designing your landscape is focalization. This is most true if you want to highlight a specific area of the landscape, like the fountain at the center of the garden for instance. There are different principles that apply when it comes to choosing the focal point of your garden, and they need not always be at the middle of the space. Some people install a flowing waterfall against one wall, and hang wrought iron lanterns in another.
If there is one very important consideration that you need to keep in mind when designing your landscape, that would have to be unity. When all of the components of your landscape work well together, you can be sure that the result will be spectacular.
