BASIC LANDSCAPE DESIGN
All gardeners are in many ways landscape designers. As we put into place our gardens and entranceways, we begin to develop a personal style. Almost everything about your lifestyle can find its way into the garden – colors from a painting you admire, influences from your travels, herbs you use in cooking, a special tree or shrub planted to celebrate the birth or death of a love one, a plant taken from the home you grew up in to preserve a bit of history.
To begin the planning of your outdoor space, you must first consider your needs, likes and dislikes, who will use the various areas, time available for maintenance, soil type, and location of utility lines.
Before starting any landscape project, the homeowner needs to have the following information:
If you don’t already have one, it is easy to get a copy of the plat of your property from your local Clerk’s office. A soil test kit can be obtained from your local VA Tech Cooperative Extension office. You can call “MISS UTILITY” and request that underground utility lines (if applicable) be marked.
Measuring your site will help determine the amount of plant material needed, along with how and where hardscape materials (such as rock walls, walkways, etc.) can be properly located.
Deciding what you want and need in your space is probably a bit more complex. What areas do you truly need?
To begin the planning process, take a good look at your present landscape. Study your lawn and garden spaces from both outside and inside your home. Walk to the edge of your property lines and look back at the current landscape. Go to each window in the house and make notes about what you see outside, and then decide what you would like to change. Don’t forget to consider what these areas look like in other seasons as well. Do you need privacy, relief from a tree that is messy, or a buffer from strong winds? Take all of these into consideration when creating your overall design plan.
Next, do some basic research. Look at other homes of the same style and era as yours. If you find designs that you like or portions of designs you like, try to incorporate some of those into your planning. Look through landscape design magazines. Borrow landscape design books from your local public library. Flip through these resources and determine which style or styles reflect best your tastes and interests. Remember landscaping for your space is a personal issue.
If you like the current trend in landscaping, to divide different areas of your garden into “rooms,” look for examples of this style. Then you can decide which outdoor rooms you want to create and what purposes they will serve. Usually, garden rooms are set off by enclosures or borders of various materials. Enclosures not only define the garden room, but anchor a specific garden to its location. An enclosure should unify house and garden, add a sense of security and provide comfortable and familiar structures. A garden room utilizing enclosures can create manageable sized spaces for privacy and maintenance.
One of the most popular features being incorporated into new outdoor space is the complete kitchen. Although this feature adds a substantial amount to the budget, if you dine and entertain outdoors a lot - perhaps this would be something to lay the groundwork for in your initial planning.
Remember, landscaping is best created in stages to accommodate budget, time limitations and unexpected changes in your lifestyle and needs. If you begin with the basics, you can gradually work your way to the garden you have always dreamed of having. By starting your planning with the basics, as you progress, you will find that adding those decorative or finishing touches – such as sculptures, urns, etc - will better reflect your true purpose and personality.
While you are doing your research, look for the following topics to read up on:
Symmetrical balance vs. asymmetrical balance
Scale and proportion
Repetition
Balance
Color and
Texture
Another important and absolute necessity to consider in your planning is maintenance. Maintenance requirements will directly affect the amount of enjoyment realized, unless you decide this would be a good vocation. In all stages of planning, consider the basic maintenance requirements of the features you include. If you don’t enjoy raking leaves, steer clear of trees that drop huge amounts of leaves. If you really, really want such a tree, put deep ground covers underneath to hide the mess. Select plant material that doesn’t require a lot of work (as in pruning, deadheading, etc). If you want a lawn with lots of green grass, consider not only mowing duties, but the reseeding, feeding, aeration, disease and insect problems that may occur over time. You may just decide to keep the lawn small, but still have some green space. As far as watering is concerned, here in Central Virginia there is always the possibility that you will need to incorporate some type of irrigation system. Ordinarily these systems are pricey and require professional installation.
When you find a nursery or greenhouse to work with, don’t be embarrassed to ask questions, and lots of them. Quality plants are a financial investment, and to save time and money, the right decisions in the initial stages will prove beneficial. Plant material can be purchased in many sizes. If you opt for small and/or young plants, be sure to find out about their mature size and space requirements.
Both your budget and skill level will be of prime importance. Can your plan be completed in stages to fit within the budget and still meet your long term needs? Do you have the necessary tools and the knowledge to do the work on the project safely and correctly? If not, another item for the budget will be the cost of “skilled workmen”.
Finally, put pencil to paper and begin by sketching out designs you would like and that fulfill your needs. Be careful to consider plants and other features already in your landscape that are positive features. It is possible to save yourself work, money and a lot of trouble by keeping things that currently serve your needs. Work on a basic rough design first. Use a checklist of features you require. Then, you can draw a more detailed version on graph paper. You can also use tracing paper to place over your sketch to try out other features to be added in stages or at a later time.
Since your landscaping project translates into a long-term commitment it is best to use the base plan and try out several versions of layouts on tracing paper. Each version is drawn, and then laid over the base plan to consider the outcome.
Please remember, gardening is a rare process in that there’s a beginning and a middle, but no end: a garden is never finished. This is a hard lesson to learn; at least it is for those of us who wouldn’t serve a meal only partly cooked, for example, or wear clothing that hasn’t been hemmed, or do any home repair work halfway. Gardening is the ultimate nature-versus-nurture equation: How much can the human being do? A lot, but only a part of it, even so. One is reminded of the old television commercial for margarine, in which an off camera voice intoned, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” In the garden, you can’t. Learning to live by nature’s clock will, of necessity, teach patience and wonder and new ways of studying the world, in every season.”
In closing, please remember, a truly good landscape serves the needs of the owner. And in some people’s opinions, a well planned and executed outdoor space is essential for not only enjoying and appreciating nature in all its wonder, but to provide a place for relaxation, celebration, and tranquility.
Written by members of the Heart of Virginia Master Gardeners
posted 3/1/07