Landscape Design Tips To Make Your Dream Garden

I happen to meet people in Ontario every time and often I receive questions like, “Scott, how do I
make that dream Garden in my home ?.” You will agree with me that thoughts of having a
beautiful garden in your home have probably crossed your mind if you are reading this.

A place where you can get to enjoy nature and tranquility. Well, today I am here to give you a
few tips on how you can also own that dream garden that you saw somewhere.

Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by
landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design
bridges the space between landscape architecture and garden design.

The keys to that inspirational vision are these seven principles of design – Balance, Proximity,
alignment, repetition, contrast, and space. Read on to learn how to create that dream garden. I
hope you will be inspired !.

• Aim for balance

Within a garden, balance is achieved when all the individual elements are in a state of
equilibrium. You can use this sense of balance to create a neat sense of symmetry, or it can be
deliberately inverted to create a more relaxed, asymmetrical design. For example, emphasizing
one side of the garden will change the balance of the various elements and draw your eye to that
area, as opposed to the garden as a whole, allowing you to highlight your signature element,
perhaps a sculpture or seating area.

• Think about PROXIMITY

Bear in mind how you want to position your elements about each other. Grouping elements
closely together in relative proximity creates a great sense of unity, giving the garden a more
noticeable character. Whereas isolating these elements creates a more diluted connection and a
greater sense of space.

• Bear ALIGNMENT in mind

How elements are aligned in an outdoor space, whether they are a group of potted plants on an
urban balcony or lines of trees in an orchard, is key in creating a visual connection in your
outdoor space. A seemingly random misalignment of trees creates a subtle connection and
natural character, whereas aligning the trees creates a more formal, uncluttered space and gives a
structured feel to the garden.

• Repetition, repetition, REPETITION

Bringing repetition into a garden can strengthen the design by emphasizing a sense of rhythm,
like a thread running through the garden. By repeating form, color, or texture you can create a
sense of overall balance and harmony. Repetition also helps the eye to travel through space as
repeated forms or plants lead your attention. This visual journey creates interest in your garden.
For example, recurring form, color, and texture provide a modest, understated theme whereas
repeating the same shape using different objects, such as water, planting and topiary provide
subtle continuity.

• Consider CONTRAST

Contrast plays a pivotal part in the development of your garden design as it allows you to
emphasize certain areas.
If a garden is dominated by similar, blending colors for both materials and planting – for
example, brick paving and orange and yellow planting – a thematic scheme is produced. By
choosing materials and plants with opposing characteristics to this theme, you can create a
contrasting wider spectrum of colors and highlight certain elements, making them stand out more
within the garden.

• Always keep the SPACE in mind

Space can change the atmosphere of a garden dramatically and so is fundamentally important
when designing a beautiful and yet useable garden.
An open space will convey a simple, airiness, whereas adopting a more enclosed design and
manipulating the available space will suggest more mystery, seclusion, and surprise. Space will
also dictate whether you move more freely or in a more measured way through the garden, so it
is vital to consider how your garden will be used.

Your landscape design plans might mean putting in new gardens entirely, or maybe just coming
up with a planting plan for this year.
You could just go out, buy a bunch of plants, and then decide where to plant them when you get
home.
But doing some good proper landscaping design planning will result in a much better garden.
Hopefully, you have learned something about landscape design and the above tips on how you
can own that great garden.
At Carroll Property Services we offer world-class landscape design services and you can contact
us for this service and many more.