Landscaping goes beyond gardening to include both the creation of outdoor spaces and structural improvements like paving, walkways, and patios. It also includes the use of water features and walls to define space and support functional living.

Create a sense of place by using plants to establish boundaries and create visual interest. For example, draw attention to a statue in your landscape by surrounding it with low-growing flowers and arranging a straight pathway leading to it. Contact Landscaping Fayetteville AR for professional help.

One of the most important aspects of any landscape design is color. It’s what attracts our attention and ties the different areas of the garden together. It can also create a sense of balance and harmony. For example, using varying shades of the same flower can help make the garden feel balanced and calm. Repetition is another crucial aspect of color, as it helps guide the eye throughout the landscape and makes it feel unified. Whether it’s the repetition of certain colors, patterns or textures, this element is what connects each plant and flower to the next, making them part of a whole landscape.

Flowers come in a wide array of colors, from the soft pinks of spring and dahlias to the bright oranges of Colorado gold gazanias or black-eyed susans. Bold or muted, each has its own unique charm and can bring a pop of color to any landscape. When pairing flowers, it’s important to consider their color temperature, as warmer colors tend to complement each other better, while cool colors like blues and greens will work well with softer flowers.

Another important aspect of color is the use of contrast. This means contrasting bold colors with soft or neutral tones to create a more dramatic effect. For instance, vibrant red tulips look beautiful with the muted greens of the lilacs.

Landscaping can enhance the appearance of a home or business and add value to the property. It can also improve the health and well-being of those who live or work in the space. Some commercial landscapes even include wellness amenities, such as outdoor fitness trails and basketball courts.

Form

Form refers to the shape of landscape elements. Plants and hardscape features come in many shapes – upright, groundcover, round or freeform. Form helps establish a landscape’s style and creates a sense of balance. For example, a sheared boxwood hedge might add formality to a garden while a loose Rhododendron creates a more relaxed feel. Form is also important in establishing a landscape’s scale. For instance, a high-scale design might include a large tree with small plants around it or a large fountain with a series of low pots.

Lines are another crucial element of a landscape’s design. These can be perceived lines — such as a walkway or path — or physical lines, like fences or gates. Lines can create focal points with landscape features like water gardens or flower gardens by naturally creating pathways for the eye to follow. They can also delineate soft skate or hardscape areas to create special rooms within a landscape and tie its parts together.

Color, line, form and texture work together to evoke an emotional connection with the landscape. They help the eye flow through the landscape, making it more welcoming and inviting. In addition, these landscape elements are crucial in defining the value of your home. A well-maintained, attractive yard is an excellent way to increase your home’s resale value without spending too much money.

Choosing a color scheme is often the most important decision when designing your yard. The color of your landscape can be influenced by the time of day, the season and even the weather. For example, bright sunlight can make colors appear saturated and intense, whereas filtered light can make them look subdued.

Form and texture are the next two elements in determining the aesthetic of a landscape. For example, a garden with a wide variety of leaf textures can provide contrasting elements that will attract the eye. Texture can also be influenced by the shape of a landscape element, such as the size of a shrub’s leaves. The proportion of void and filled space is also considered when designing a landscape. For example, planting beds should be sized in relation to their surrounding lawn and house to avoid visual imbalance.

Texture

Texture is the feel of the surface of plants and materials in your landscape. It’s a vital element that influences how the space feels, whether it’s calm and refined or dramatic and lively. It also plays a role in defining the relationship between house and nature. Unlike color, texture has the ability to evoke a particular mood in the viewer and set a specific tone for the garden.

While most people focus on form when designing a garden, texture can make just as much of a difference. As a general rule, a landscape should include plants with a mix of fine, medium, and coarse textures. Combining these textures creates visual excitement and prevents monotony, and it also enables the other design elements to stand out more effectively.

Fine textures tend to have a more delicate, refined appearance. They may be found in ferns, flowering herbs, or even fine gravel. Medium textures are most common and can be found in a wide range of shrubs and perennials, including hydrangeas and hostas. Coarse textures have a more bold, dramatic feel, and they often appear in spiky palm trees, rugged boulders, or thick bark. The use of varying textures allows you to accentuate the positive aspects of your landscape and highlight features that need attention.

Using varying textures in the garden also helps create year-round interest, especially during the winter when most plants are dormant. For example, the ragged bark of an acacia tree or the feathery seed pods of ornamental grasses can add visual interest to the garden, while the frosted leaves and branches of deciduous trees provide stark contrast to the surrounding landscape.

When it comes to landscape architecture, texture is a critical component that can transform flat and uninspiring gardens into layered and engaging spaces. A thoughtful combination of plant and hardscape textures will enhance color, shape, and movement, and help you craft a truly captivating garden that will inspire and delight visitors. So be sure to take into consideration the various textures in your garden, and try to incorporate as many of them as possible.

Scent

For many, the smell of a garden is as important as its visual beauty. Yet, while it is possible to create a beautiful landscape with plants that are fragrant throughout the growing season, it is relatively uncommon. Most landscapers rely on scentless perennials, ornamental grasses and yew bushes that are easy to maintain but have no perfume.

Studies show that exposure to the interacting stimuli of garden plant odors and landscape green spaces relaxes and refreshes people, which can promote mental and physical well-being. It is therefore essential to design and use garden plant smellscapes that are pleasant, natural and healthy for humans.

Jennifer Cowan