Landscape gardening Design

Concept of Landscaping

An expanse of scenery that can be seen in a single view is called Landscape (W.C Welch) landscape involve much more than placing trees/shrubs on the property.  It is an art which deals with conscious arrangement/ organization of outdoor space for human satisfaction and enjoyment. So Landscape refers to a wise environment friendly planning of a property (private or public) to provide spaces for pleasure and activities

Ø  Landscape design exists for many reasons, including.

ü  Increasing your home’s property value. Landscaping can raise the value of a home 10-30%. 

ü  Energy Efficiency – a well-landscaped home is cheaper to cool in summer and easier to warm in winter.

ü  Landscaping reduces heat loss in winter while reducing heat exposure in summer.

Ø  It helps the planet – in addition to reducing the energy use of your home, landscaping can serve as a buffer between the environmental impact of your home and the natural world around it

Ø  It improves your health and well-being – landscaping, when done well, reduces stress and anxiety while providing you with a place to “escape” from the hustle of modern life.

Landscape Design:  Landscape Design is the coordinated and sustainable use of plant life and materials to create a functional, easy-to-manage outdoor environment in which to live, work, and play.  It combines the use of principles of design, ecology, budgeting and finance, construction, and psychology to create please outdoor spaces that serve as a buffer between civilization and the natural world.

Designer needs to arrange space so that people will find it

•         Useful

•         Beautiful

•         Meaningful

•         Functional

Importance of Landscape Design

Landscape design involves more than just making a yard

"Pretty.“

Ø  Links culture with nature

Ø  Links past with the present

Ø  Essentials to health and well being

Ø  Develops economically healthy society

Ø  Provides national identity and local distinctiveness

Ø  Provides eco system services (food, water, disease mgt, climate regulation, spiritual fulfillment and aesthetic enjoyments)

Ø  Provide space for wide ranging activities

Landscapes provide a setting for our lives

•       Our landscapes provide for our needs as well as nature's, for example wildlife. Our activities influence and shape its appearance and function, these activities include:

•       recreation and health

•       wildlife and biodiversity

•       education and experience

•       farming, forestry and food

•       natural resources

•       transport and infrastructure

•       settlement

•       local distinctiveness

•       history

Why people go for landscaping?

People cannot understand how to landscape until they know why they landscape.

General public thinking

Ø    Some think it improves appearance of the property

Ø    Others prefer to grow plants

Ø    Some just want the spaces pretty

Ø    Some do it as a status symbol/competition to others

On the other hand designer believe that

Ø    It provides pleasure to the family/users

Ø    It boosts a community as hole

Ø    It increases the value of the property

Ø    It improves environment

Initial purpose of landscape design is to blend man's technology (house or building) into the natural surroundings

Landscape elements

Landscape Design involves several key elements that are

universal to all design projects, regardless of if they are for a

home, business, or park.

These include

Ø  Focal Points

Ø  Line

Ø  Form

Ø  Texture

Focal Points

The focal point is the point or area of the landscape that attracts the viewer’s eyes.

Ø  The lines, form, and texture of a landscape design attract the attention of the viewer and draws it to the focal point.

Ø  Without a point or area on which to focus, the viewer’s eyes become lost and confused throughout the landscape.

Ø  As a designer, create an accent or focal point that is strong and effective.

Ø  Do not incorporate too many focal points into the landscape.

Ø  Otherwise, their effect will be lost.

Ø  Use the design elements (line, form, texture) to move the viewer’s eyes through the landscape to the place of the focal point.

Line

Line is related to eye movement or flow In the overall landscape: line is inferred by bed arrangement and the way these beds fit or flow together ,Line also created vertically by changes in plant height and the height of tree and shrub canopies.Line in a small area such as an entrance or privacy garden is created by branching habits of plants, arrangement of leaves and/or sequence of plant materials,Straight lines tend to be forceful, structural and stable and direct the observer's eye to a point faster than curved lines.

Roles of Line

Line plays important roles in a landscape.

•       Line is the formation of boundaries in a landscape through changes in color, substance, form, or texture.  It is where one element meets a different kind of element.

•       Line leads the viewer’s eyes through the landscaped space.

•       It defines and creates space and order.

•       A skilled designer recognizes the use of line. He/she applies line in all aspects of the landscape.

Two main types

•       Curve

•       Straight

Functions of Line

•       Use line to draw attention to highlights your landscape. 

•       Use straight lines to represent formality or a contemporary concept.

•       Intersecting straight lines suggest hesitation, change of view or direction, or a pause.

•       Meandering or curved lines suggest a more relaxed, slower movement.

•       Use curved lines to create a casual, informal concept.

•       DO NOT use lines in a manner that draws attention out of the landscape and into the sky or surrounding territory.

Incorporation of Line

•       As a designer, incorporate line into a landscape by using contrasting plant material and by forming patterns with similar plant materials.

•       Pattern is line organized in a repetitive sequence.

•       Examples of lines created in a landscape include ground patterns, edges of contrasting plant materials, and tree tops meeting the sky.

Form

It relates to the size of an object/area in terms of

individual plant growth habits/planting and arrangement

in a Landscape

•       Form is the two or three-dimensional shape and structure of an object or space.

–      Whether it is two or three dimensional, form is line surrounding mass.

–      Most deciduous trees and shrubs have a rounded form.

–      A conical form is characteristic of many evergreen trees.

–      Evergreen shrubs have more of a horizontal form.

Plants Forms

Plant forms may include

•          Upright

•          Oval

•          Columnar

•          Spreading

•          Broad spreading

•          Weeping

Types of form

2 types- Formal and Informal

•       Formal concepts suggest the use of very tailored forms of plant material and ground beds.

–      Such a formal landscape would include very straight, crisp, and precise planting beds; topiaries; and other visually clean-lined plants.

•       Informal or woodland concepts mandate much more irregular or natural forms.

–      Casual curving ground beds and loosely branched trees and vines have forms to satisfy this concept.

Application of Form

Designer, incorporate form into a landscape to manipulate a person’s emotions.

Use

–      vertical forms for adding height.

–      Horizontal or spreading forms for visual width to tall structures.

–       weeping or drooping forms to create soft lines and to provide a transition to the ground plane.

–      Rounded plant forms  to create large masses and are effective as borders and enclosures.

Consider form when making design decisions regarding design details for plants, structures, and ground patterns.

Texture

Ø Texture is the surface quality of any plant material or Structure in the landscape.

Ø It is the feature of a plant or structure’s physical surface qualities as determined by form and size.

–      E.g. grass has a very smooth texture – it looks like a smooth mat of green

–      E.g. palm trees have a very rough texture – their large leaves are very individually evident

Fine texture

•       Finer textures are easier for the viewer’s eyes to span/cover.

•       In finer textures, the eyes continue searching for an accent on which to focus.

•       Fine textured plant materials visually recede(move away)  and appear farther away.

•       As a result,  they make an area seem larger and more expanded (panorama view).

Conclusion

•       Any landscape should not happen by accident but should be the result of coordinated and intentional plantings and arrangements.

•       Focal points, line, form, and texture should be combined to direct the viewer’s eye. 

•       These elements should be considered, planned, and evaluated prior to any actual work.