Designing your outdoor area can be a complicated task, as you need a lot of landscape knowledge to be able to create an ideal project and then execute it well. Gaining some basic information regarding landscape design and its principles should enable you to move forward with your design and help you be more creative, generating new and exciting ideas. Here is everything you need to know about landscape principles to start your design journey and ensure that the elements in your project have balance and harmony.
Color – Helping You to Create Perspective
One of the landscape design principles that you should be aware of is that color has the power to create a dimension of real life. Warmer, bright colors (like orange, yellow, or red) tend to seem to advance towards you, making an object seem closer than they actually are. Cool colors (like blue, or green), on the other hand, seem to move from you. Such complementary colors are useful when you want to create an attractive perspective.
Main Feature
Every landscape has to have a stand-out feature, the main point of focus. A water feature, a beautiful tree, a place to sit down outside, any of these elements can be the focal point of your landscape. The main feature is the strongest element in the design in any given view. Contrast should help highlight certain elements in your landscape design, so if you have a main feature in your mind, you should definitely use it to your advantage. Use different colors and textures to enrich your landscape and indicate the showstopper that you have chosen for your design.
Asymmetrical Balance vs Symmetrical Balance
People are most comfortable with landscapes that have a sense of balance. In landscape design, balance tends to be understood as a sense of equality. There are two main types of landscape balance, symmetrical and asymmetrical. In symmetrical balance, two sides of the landscape are supposed to be identical – one side of the landscape is a mirror image of the opposite side. This type of balance is used in more formal landscapes with geometric patterns.
However, in asymmetrical balance, the landscape composition is balanced using different plants and objects, which have almost similar imaginary weights (so that nothing is overpowering, as you look at your landscape). It is also known as informal balance, as it differs from one side of the landscape to the other and appears to be more relaxing and free-flowing than symmetrical balance.
Transitioning
In landscape design, a transition can be simply defined as “a gradual change”. Most commonly, it can be illustrated by gradually varying the plants’ size or the color intensity throughout your design. But it can also be used to create gradual change with textures or different foliage shapes. As you choose different plants and other features for your landscape design, it is crucial to make sure that you still end up with a cohesive look, so planning ahead for transitions can do wonders for the final look.
Landscape Lines
Lines might be the most important element of landscaping design. They are used almost everywhere, including creating entryways, walkways, texture, and perspective. Straight lines might also help to give an illusion of distance and depth. It is so important that you use lines to be able to end up with a visually pleasing landscape, as without them, our eyes don’t know where to go exactly. Landscapes with clear lines tend to be more aesthetically pleasing.
Proportion
The next stop in our journey through basic principles of landscape design is proportion. Proportion implies the size of an object in relation to other objects in your outdoor area. It is an easy enough concept to understand, but still requires some planning when it comes to landscape and garden design. You need to make sure that all the elements in your design should have just the right proportions.
What About Repetition?
Creating predictable patterns and sequences as a part of your landscape design is where the repetition principle comes in. Know that some landscape design elements can and should be repeated throughout your yard. Too many objects that are unrelated can make your landscape design appear cluttered and chaotic. However, you also shouldn’t overuse too many elements, as it’ll make the overall look seem uninteresting and somewhat monotonous. Repetition is good, you just can’t overdo it.
Final Thoughts
These are the most basic principles that landscape designers follow on the daily basis in their projects. Unleash your creativity by using these principles to design your landscape. Try to consider utilizing colors, lines, proportion, and balance to help influence your landscape design. Choose the focal point of your outdoor area, but don’t be afraid of a little repetition. Knowing the basic principles of landscape design gives you an edge, and your final product will for sure make your neighbors green with envy.