Landscape design doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, once you grasp the basic rules, you can pretty much take any exterior space and turn it into a stunning area to relax with family, enjoy socialising with friends and give your children and pets a functional garden to play in.
In this post, we’re going to reveal some essential garden design rules so you can use them to build something incredible. Let’s dive in.
Use the Rule of Enclosure
When you think of your home, the interior is essential to your happiness and way of living. Each space has an important function, like the kitchen is for cooking and your living room is for relaxing. Enclosure in landscape design is all about creating spaces in your outdoor area and defining specific functions.
In a way, the rule of the enclosure is like taking the foundations of your garden and building a frame to create a continuous theme and set moods for each section of your outdoor area – while maintaining a traditional or contemporary exterior.
Form & Shape
You can use shapes and forms to maintain the theme of your garden and outline a shape. For example, if you add a path from your back door, you can highlight the rectangular shape by lining it with plants.
Different shapes create particular moods, which you can use to enhance the aesthetics of your space – but also improve the functionality. For example, a circle can help to streamline your garden while forming a centrepiece ideal for a dining area or water feature.
Diamond shapes have a unique appeal, which is perfect if you want to create a stand out space that oozes contemporary style. If you decide to use various shapes, it’s important to look at how they come together to enhance your design.
Use Framing
If you have a specific feature and want to make it the centrepiece of your garden, using framing is the best way to achieve the right look.
For example, a water feature makes a stunning addition to any garden, so it’s only natural that you want to draw attention to it. Adding an archway to your seating area that lines up with the water feature will make it a central part of your outdoor area.
Structures
Structures aren’t just for aesthetics because they serve as functional areas that streamline spaces and provide focal points in areas with lots of plants or green space.
The most important thing to remember about structures is that they serve as exterior elements that articulate the points between your house and garden.
Entry Point
Whether it’s your front or back garden, there should be a clear entry point that separates your outdoor space from the pavement or your back door. Gardens should be relaxing areas, and it’s best to create the right impression.
The transitional point from home to the garden should match the architectural style of your property while leading people into the design of your backyard.
For example, a brick pathway that matches your home could have plants lining the way to your garden – which will serve as a way to create a soft transition into whatever design you choose for your backyard.
Adding Colour
Colour is essential to bring your garden design to life, and it’s often one of the most fun elements of landscaping. Green will always be the backdrop, and if you use hardscaping, then neutral colours provide an excellent structure, which allows you to incorporate bright tones with your plants.
Your colour scheme should remain in line with your home and personal tastes, but it’s essential to consider the position of your garden and how easily plants will grow. If you don’t have the right conditions, your plants won’t flourish, and the colour will be impacted.
It’s always advisable to ask a specialist landscaping company to come up with a personalised garden plan so you can make a wise investment in your garden.
Fun Elements
Gardens don’t have to be serious, and if you’re incorporating a lot of plants or wildflowers, you can enhance that rustic look by adding whimsical features. Garden gnomes are always a popular addition, but model ducks can also be fun.
There’s plenty you can do, including incorporating features for your garden, such as a hedgehog house or bird feeders. Even statues can have a whimsical appeal, and while some people like classical models, others use lions, toads and other animals to create a wild effect.
Mysterious Features
If you’re lucky enough to have ample garden space, you have the freedom to do whatever you want with it. If you’ve ever read or seen the movie version of The Secret Garden, you’ll know there’s a wonderful appeal to the air of mystery space holds.
Whether it’s an archway filled with greenery or a green wall that leads to a seating area, people will love the effort you put into your outdoor space, and it could be a great selling point if you decide to put your property on the market.
The Definition of Time
When we say the definition of time, we mean incorporating elements that match the age of your home. While some people decide to overhaul their garden (and there’s nothing wrong with that), the best designers know that a perfectly streamlined green area will keep in line with the original features of your property.
However, if you want to do something completely different, you can easily add a transitional area to make moving from a character home to a modern garden seem more natural.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this post has given you some ideas about how landscape design works and how we use it to create stunning outdoor spaces. Whether you have a large garden or a small patio, you can still use landscape design principles to take that space to a new level.
Do you have a rustic garden that isn’t working for you? Turning a traditional country garden into a contemporary area is possible – as long as you follow a set of renovation tips.
Check out our blog on how to modernise your garden here.
