Step-by-step landscape design

Flower & Garden Magazine, Dec, 1996 by Marianne Binetti

An Empty Space Impatiently waits in your landscape. Perhaps you are starting from scratch, or a fallen tree or remodeling job has left you with an open area. Maybe you've just grown tired of a foundation planting you've never really found attractive and have finally torn out the overgrown shrubbery. Whatever the reason, you're ready for a landscape makeover.

The basics of landscape design are as easy as 1-2-3: have a plan; choose a focal point; then add plants while considering their size, texture and color.

The amount of time devoted to each of these steps depends on the size of the job. To landscape an entire yard you may want to spend the first year on just step one, the planning and research phase. For a small bed, a few hours and a mental picture may be all you need before moving on to step two. Not every design job calls for graph paper and a tape measure.

Step two, choosing a focal point, helps to lead you smoothly toward the final step of filling in with plants. For a large project, step two also includes placing the paths, patios and other structures that make up the hardscaping, or "bones," of a landscape. It is not unreasonable to spend a year or more installing hardscaping, focal points and large trees.

Once you've made these decisions about what will anchor and define the space, you'll be more confident in selecting the plants that will fill your garden. Relax and enjoy step three. Gardens are never finished; you can enjoy a lifetime of adding, removing and rearranging plants.

Whether you're working on a weekend project of colorful annuals or a grand scheme spaced out over several years, you're just three steps away from a lovely landscape.

PLANNING FOR SUCCESS

What does your dream garden look like? Do you prefer a woodsy, natural look or a more formal, tidy garden? The location of your empty space will help you to define the style that fits the area. The front yard of a traditional home, for instance, needs to be more formal than a narrow strip of land rarely seen on the side of the house. As you plan, look through books and magazines and wander the neighborhood for inspiration. Dream it up first, then wake up to the realities of your site.

Make a sketch, or just study the space and jot down the basics of how much sun, slope and water the area receives. There's no sense falling in love with a rose garden if your plot of land gets only a few hours of sun a day. Dig into the soil if you haven't any idea of its condition. You may decide you need to raise the level of a low, wet spot or add a truckload of organic matter to a strip of hardpan clay.

Gardening is more enjoyable if you don't try to fight nature. Study the growing conditions in your yard so you can match each area with appropriate plants. Your dry and stony soil may be just the spot to add a rock garden; your low, wet corner the perfect site for growing candelabra primroses or astilbe. Once you write these site conditions on your planning paper you'll be more likely to start researching the plants that thrive in your situation.

CHOOSING A FOCAL POINT

When the space is on paper or clearly envisioned and the growing conditions written down, it's time to decide what will anchor the space. Landscape designers often choose a focal point around which to build the garden. In a small bed this object could be a large boulder, birdbath or sundial. In a larger space a weeping tree, attractive shrub or wooden garden structure serves the purpose.

Your choice of focal points can really set the mood of the new landscape. A white arbor adds instant country charm, while a stone pagoda announces a Japanese influence. Non-living focal points that rise above the plants in a bed add a strong vertical anchor and can take the place of a tree or shrub. Some other focal points to consider:

* Evergreens with interesting shapes such as dwarf Alberta spruce, 'Skyrocket' juniper or a black pine with a wind-swept form.

* Attractive specimen shrubs such as grafted Japanese maples, rhododendrons or kalmias.

* A group of low shrubs such as heathers, azaleas or euonymus arranged in a staggered row.

* Country accents such as a windmill, a twig trellis used as a vine support, a half-barrel planter, a windsock on a pole or even a rusted section of wrought-iron railing.

* Classic accents such as statuary, weather vanes, pergolas or gazing balls.

* Fountains, cascades, pools or other water features.

* Natural focal points like an old stump, a winding creek, a spectacular view or a large existing tree.

* Wildlife-attracting items like a birdhouse, birdbath or bird feeder.

LANDSCAPING IN LAYERS

If you wanted a perfectly flat landscape you would plant nothing but grass. Instead, choose plants with a variety of mature heights, from low groundcovers to shade trees. The sky's the limit in the great outdoors.

If you're unsure of where to start, try selecting the tall plants first. In a flower bed, for example, place the tall, spiky blooms of delphiniums, larkspur and foxglove toward the center or back of the bed. A mixed planting of shrubs and trees could gain height from a single tree or a row of tall evergreens at the back of the bed. The object is to place tall plants where they will form a backdrop for medium-size and low-growing plants.