Creating an elevated landscape has a lot more strategy and thoughtfulness behind it than most people realize. If you have ever tried to make a vision come alive in your landscape, you may have realized just how much planning it actually takes to get something from your head into your yard. When it comes landscape design, there are some key basic elements that can help take your landscape from dull or even just good enough to amazing.
What Are the Basic Elements of a Great Landscape Design?
Scale
The scale has to deal with the fit and size of the landscaping elements you incorporate into your yard. Additionally, it also helps to enhance height and width in the overall composition of the design. Making sure that what you incorporate complements the landscape instead of overpowering it or feeling like it doesn’t belong.
Texture
Using texture can apply to both the living elements and the hardscape elements of landscape design. When it comes to plant elements, there are hard, fine, soft, coarse, light, heavy, rough, smooth attributes to plants to consider. Some examples of texture in both plant elements and hardscape elements include the shape of a leaf, the surface of a stone, beauty bark, the sheen of a flower petal, etc. All of these add an element of visual interest and layers to the landscape.
Color
Color is probably one of the most popular and recognized elements of a landscape design. We instantly consider color when trying to flesh out a design. This is because color is one of the most identifiable and easiest on the eye. But choosing a color palette can feel difficult or overwhelming in a landscape. Sometimes it can be just a little bit trickier, especially with the sea of greens available from plants. There is an expert way to create and incorporate color and even bring all of the green items together to make it feel like a work of art.
Form
Form refers to the main shape of a feature. Both plants and hardscape features have either a structured form or a free form. Creating a balanced and intentional landscape that feels elevated and expertly designed means taking a form into account and how the forms and shapes of everything will work together to create what feels like a meaningful, cohesive design. Form can instantly get away from us when we just incorporate a collection of things that we like. Considering how these things work together to create something that seems to all flow together is important.
Line
This is where lines come in. Creating lines can help control the movement of your landscape design to make it all flow and work together. Lines add visual interest and help contain things, and make them feel like one work of art pieced together perfectly. A straight line is often used to create a formal design, whereas curved lines are great for more informal spaces. Then there are lines that can’t be created by a human hand, such as those formulated by the live edge of wood or natural stone, which can add a great style statement to a landscape design focused on artistic design.
Utilizing the basic elements helps to launch a landscape from something that looks sort of good or something that looks like a good attempt was made into something that feels elevated and formulated into something cohesive and incredibly pleasing to the eye.
If you want to take your yard from great to amazing, contact the landscape designers at First Fruits Landscaping. Let’s get started turning your yard into a work of art that not only looks great but also functions well for your lifestyle. We provide landscaping services in Snohomish County and King County.