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Lawn, Garden & Landscaping

2003-06-01 10:13:00

Landscape design theory

ANSWER: The term "landscape design theory" sounds rather imposing, doesn't it? And, to be sure, one could spend years studying all the ideas in the field of landscape design. But what if you simply need to give your lawn and gardens a makeover? If you need to spruce up the landscape design of a house that you are about to sell, or if you simply want to enjoy an enhanced design for your home's lawn and gardens, you could profit from a straightforward, no-nonsense look at the ideas behind landscape design theory.    Whenever something is put together, you are engaged in designing, however humble the project. Sometimes designs are taken for granted, because what is being put together is so commonplace that we are no longer conscious of the designing process. For instance, you are employing design techniques when you compose a letter to send to somebody. Your basic design "elements" to accomplish such a task include vocabulary, spelling and grammar. Somewhat more complex elements, or design "principles" build directly on the basic elements. Letter-writing principles include conveying your ideas clearly and coming across as a courteous, intelligent individual. Your success with these principles will largely determine whether or not your letter achieves its ultimate objective.    And so it is with landscape design theory. First you must learn the basic design elements that underlie all landscape design theory. These fundamental elements will then serve as building blocks for learning and implementing the more advanced principles of landscape design theory. These tried and true principles are the cornerstones of the world's most beautiful gardens.    The basic elements of landscape design theory are:  Color, Form, Line, Scale, and Texture.  These five elements must be considered in designing both the hardscape and softscape of a landscape, the latter consisting mainly of gardens, lawns, shrubs and trees. While color is self-explanatory, and scale is simply the size of one component relative to adjacent components, the other elements require some more in-depth explanation.    The element of form is defined as the shape of a plant and the structure of its branching pattern. Trees come in many shapes (especially if pruned), including columnar and globular shapes. Likewise, tree forms range structurally from having the stiffly upright branches of a European poplar to the droopy quality of a weeping willow. The form of individual components of a plant also needs to be considered. For example, the leaves of one type of tree can possess a form different from that of another type of tree. Leaf form has a great impact on the overall appearance of the tree, including its texture.    But the element of form cannot be completely separated from the element of texture. Since texture is primarily a visual matter in landscape design theory, we often rely on the form of a plant to draw conclusions about its perceived texture. Texture is also a highly relative term: it refers to how the surface of an object is perceived, relative to the objects around it. Thus the foliage texture of one bedding plant, for example, might be more or less coarse than that of an adjacent plant.    The element of line refers to the fact that the viewer's eye movement or flow can be governed by the arrangement of plants and their borders. Eye movement is unconsciously influenced by the way plant groupings fit or flow together, both on the horizontal and vertical planes.    Enough about the basic elements. Let's move on to the principles of landscape design theory. Because the effective application of the latter can raise the value of your real estate significantly.    In the next issue, we will put these basic elements to practical use.