Last month we discussed several Artistic
Principles (Elements of Design); tricks of the trade for designing a more
pleasing garden. If you didn’t read last
month’s post, take the time to read it now:
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/07/designing-your-new-california-garden-11.html
This month we consider additional design principles
and create a preliminary planting plan.
If you’re just
joining the ‘Designing Your New California Garden’ series, we suggest starting
at the beginning (July 2013 - http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/07/designing-your-new-california-garden-1.html)
and working forward. The monthly
activities will help you design an attractive, functional, sustainable and
water-wise garden.
More Artistic Principles (Elements of
Design)
Several
design principles apply to the overall design.
These are a bit more difficult to understand, but we’ll do our best to
explain them and provide examples.
Unity/Harmony
– refers to the harmony between all parts of the design to create a
pleasing whole. A harmonious design
feels complete. The parts all
work well together and the design looks planned.
One of the easiest ways to achieve harmony is to
choose a unifying garden theme. Whatever
the theme – ‘purple flowers’, ‘Japanese Garden’ or ‘coastal sage scrub plants’
– a theme creates a unified appearance.
The theme limits choices and results in harmony.
Unity should be considered when choosing both plants
and hardscape. In fact, a unified
hardscape scheme is another easy trick for achieving harmony. Select path/patio materials, pavers, mulch
and other hardscape materials with similar characteristics: color, texture, etc. Use walls, fences, screens and arbors of the
same material, color and design. The
garden will exhibit unity, even if your plant materials demonstrate variety.
Some gardens include views of nature. Using locally
native plants and hardscape connects the garden with the local native landscape,
creating a harmonious whole. Consider choosing
the local native plant palette as your theme,
particularly if your garden has inspiring views of native scenery.
Balance – involves the distribution of the visual weights of
objects, colors, textures and space.
This principle works hand in hand with proportion and scale to provide a
design that feels stable. You can think
of balance in terms of a scale: the two sides of a design should appear to have
equal ‘weight’ in terms of their visual characteristics.
Have you seen a garden with a large, dense hedge on one side and nothing
on the other? The yard probably seemed
unsettled or unfinished. This is because
the design was unbalanced; all the ‘weight’ was concentrated on the side with
the dense hedge. Another example is a front
yard with a large, decorative planter on one side and grass on the other. The yard appears unbalanced because there’s
nothing substantial to counter the visual ‘weight’ of the planter.
There are several ways to create balance.
In symmetrical balance, elements
in one half of the design mirror those in the other. For example, a large planter is balanced by its twin on the other
side of the front yard. Pathways,
fences, screens, planters and other prominent hardscape elements are often used
to achieve symmetrical balance. For
example, symmetrically balanced pathways are used in formal herb or parterre gardens: the design is
geometric, with one half the mirror image of the other.
Symmetrical balance can also be used in designing the planting plan. A large shrub or mass of colorful flowers is
balanced by a similar mass. Or the
shape and content of a flower bed is repeated, or mirrored, on both sides of
the garden. Symmetrical balance is easy
to achieve; you simply split the area in half (or quarters) and repeat the
design elements.
Symmetrical balance has a formal appearance. If you like a formal look, use geometric
shapes and symmetrical balance in your design. In fact, symmetric balance can create a neat,
balanced look, even if the plants themselves (herbs; vegetables; native plants)
have an informal appearance. That’s one reason why formal herb gardens are
so appealing – they provide a nice juxtaposition of formal and informal.
Some very formal, planned gardens feature another type of balance: asymmetrical balance. Gardens with an Asian influence, such as formal
Japanese style gardens, provide excellent examples. In asymmetrical
balance, the two sides are different but still appear to ‘weigh’ the same.
Asymmetrical balance is more difficult for beginning designers to
achieve. But you can train your eye to
appreciate and use it by observing good examples. Japanese gardens, particularly the large
formal gardens found in many large cities, take asymmetrical balance to a high
level. We suggest visiting or studying
a good book on classic Japanese gardens. Note how plants, rocks and other
features are placed to create a balanced design. You will note that design elements are usually
in groups of three, five or other uneven numbers.
Asymmetrical balance is also used in informal or natural gardens. Paths may meander and plants appear as if
planted by Mother Nature herself. But
the overall view across the garden should still appear balanced. For example, a single large shrub may be ‘balanced’
by a cluster of smaller, dense shrubs that have the same visual ‘weight’. Or an
accent plant, with unusual foliage color, is balanced by a larger evergreen
shrub. The key is to have neither side more prominent
(‘heavy’) than the other.
A third type of balance is radial balance.
In radial
balance the design elements are arranged around a central point, somewhat
like the spokes of a wheel. The design
may feature a full circle or, more commonly, a half- or quarter-circle. Radial balance can be used to create striking
garden designs. Currently, it’s most frequently
used for decorative vegetable and herb gardens.
But radial balance is the basis for many an interesting garden.
Movement
describes the path the viewer’s eye takes through a design or work
of art. The best garden designs are
balanced, but not static. The eye
travels through the garden, creating a sense of movement, change and interest.
Movement
can be directed along lines, edges, shapes, and color within the design. Generally,
the eye focuses first on elements that are dark, brightly colored or otherwise
accented. Lines direct the eye from
their beginning to end; we naturally follow lines. Likewise, repetition of a color or shape
leads the eye along the path of least resistance, from like to like. For more ideas on use of movement in garden
design, with some excellent examples, see: http://www.gardendesignexposed.com/rhythm_and_motion.html
Use of Vertical Space.
Design is all about the use of space; vertical space refers to the space
above the ground. Gardeners with small
gardens often exploit vertical space creatively. But its effective use is a hallmark of good
garden design, even when space isn’t an issue.
Beginning designers
often underestimate the importance of vertical space. They concentrate on very low-growing plants
(grass; groundcovers) and large plants (trees).
But the best gardens (and nature itself) include plants of many heights,
including medium and large shrubs, perennials and vines/climbers.
Utilizing all
levels vertical space creates a more interesting garden. It allows you to use
space effectively, thus including more plants. The increased variety attracts more birds, butterflies
and pollinators. So there are both
design and practical reasons to use your vertical space.
Garden designers
often refer to the ‘ground’, ‘foreground’, ‘mid-ground’ and ‘background’ areas
of a design. The ground layer is planted with very low plants – grasses, lawns and low
groundcovers for the most part. In some
gardens, the patios, seating areas, walkways and other low hardscape are
important elements of the ground layer (see above).
The foreground is the next tallest
layer. It’s the area nearest the viewer
– in the front of beds, directly adjacent to paths and seating areas, etc. The foreground features plants that are best
viewed up close. Foreground plants are the ‘lead actors’ and ‘divas’ in the
garden drama. They often are plants with
special attributes – interesting flowers, foliage or form (see the succulents
in the foreground, above) or delicate scent.
Of necessity, foreground
plants are also the shortest, usually in the 1-2 foot range. Many
gardeners include annuals and bulbs in the foreground. But smaller decorative grasses, succulents,
cacti, ferns and perennials are also candidates.
The mid-ground provides additional interest
to the design. Composed primarily of
plants in the 2-5 foot range, the mid-ground takes up most of the space in a
typical garden/garden room. In
California, the mid-ground is primarily composed of smaller shrubs, half-woody
sub-shrubs and larger perennials. These
plants are often chosen for their foliage attributes, although they may also have
flowers and interesting fruits/seeds.
Since mid-ground
plants are viewed at a greater distance, they are most important for the
overall impression they give; ‘white foliage’, ‘purple flowers’, ‘small leaves’,
etc. They often are massed to increase their impact. Many mid-ground plants have seasonal
attributes (purple flowers) in addition to their season-spanning foliage, shape
and texture. In the photo above, note how mid-ground plants add foliage color
(silvery; green) and interesting shapes in addition to the overall impression
of ‘purple flowers’.
Mid-ground plants
provide masses of color and texture that contrast with the unique attributes of
the foreground. They are the ‘supporting
actors’ in the garden play. Accents, sculpture, bird baths and other garden
art are also most appropriate for the mid-ground. They are large and unique enough to compete
with the mid-ground plants. And they
stand out nicely against the background.
The background serves as a backdrop for the
fore- and mid-ground. Like a stage backdrop,
background plants provide contrast to showcase the plants (actors) in front of
them. They are often chosen to provide
maximal contrast. Background plants tend
to be evergreen, medium to dark in foliage color and of simple, dense texture. Note how the darker, relatively dense
background shrubs/trees showcase the fore- and mid-ground plants in the photo
above.
Composed primarily
of trees and large shrubs (more than 5 ft. tall), the background can also
include taller hardscape elements like walls, fences or screens. In fact, hardscape often provides important
background in smaller gardens typical of suburban California. Some gardens feature vines and shrubs grown on
trellises or espaliered on a wall or fence. Pleasant views – ‘borrowed landscape’ such as
surrounding trees, hills, etc. - can also form part of the background.
It’s important to
remember that the background is meant to be a backdrop. In most cases,
background plants should not serve as accents; and unless there is good reason
to accent them, background fences/walls should be of a medium to dark color. When choosing background plants/hardscape,
remember that their primary design function is to showcase the plants in front of them.
As seen in the
photo, well-designed gardens usually provide natural transitions between the
vertical layers, with no large gaps in height between the layers. Some very formal contemporary gardens are the
exception to the rule; their geometric designs actually feature sharp contrasts between vertical layers. But in most gardens, plantings should not resemble a series of steps. Height
should vary within the layers, creating a more natural appearance.
But
enough talk. Let’s see how these design
principles are used in practice.
Creating a preliminary planting plan (layout)
In the last
posting, we suggested breaking up the garden into manageable pieces. We used the example of the garden at 112
Willow Street and began by creating a Summary
of Characteristics for several areas of the garden. This month we’ll tackle a slightly more
challenging area: the ‘Butterfly Garden’
The Butterfly
Garden is located at the back of the lot, near the ‘Lawn’ and ‘Vegetable
Garden’. As currently envisioned, the
area is long and relatively narrow; it’s separated from the Lawn by a simple
stone border. It’s a highly visible area,
with views from the house, patio and ‘Shady Seating Area’. Our gardeners begin with a Summary of Characteristics.
At this point,
it’s helpful to step back and critically review the basic layout for the entire
area. The gardeners enlarge their site
map and note the dimensions of the Butterfly Garden.
A six foot depth
is fairly narrow for a garden/garden bed.
When the gardeners pencil in some representative plant sizes, they
observe that it may be difficult to use their vertical space in a pleasing way.
Unless they want to limit their plant
palette to smaller plants (or a hedge & espalier), they need to make the
garden deeper. Increasing the depth to 8 feet will decrease the
‘Lawn’ slightly, but expand their options dramatically.
The gardeners draw in the stone border and pavers. The new layout has space for some larger
shrubs, in addition to smaller plants.
In fact, their design can now include limited fore-, mid- and background
areas. This will be far more interesting and provide additional
area for butterfly habitat.
Let’s review how the principles of design
are currently reflected in the backyard at 112 Willow St. The three main planted areas (‘Lawn’,
‘Butterfly Garden’ and ‘Vegetable Garden’) are treated as three garden rooms,
separated by stone/planted borders. The
viewer can see the entire backyard, but still gets a sense of enclosure for
each area. The entire backyard is surrounded
by a 5 ft. tall fence, increasing the sense of enclosure.
The backyard is unified by the theme: ‘food
for all’. The hardscape colors and
textures have been chosen carefully.
They provide a uniform, natural appearance and their grayed colors will
blend into the landscape. The same mulch
will be used in the Butterfly and Vegetable gardens. The hardscape unifies the entire backyard,
producing an additional sense of harmony across the three ‘rooms’.
The stone border provides a semi-formal separation
between Lawn and Butterfly Garden. Our
gardeners lay out their proposed border with a rope and spend some time
observing its lines. They decide to extend
the border to include a narrow area between the Lawn and Vegetable Garden. The
line of the stone border now forms a rough semi-circle, providing symmetrical
balance. The sweeping arc leads the eye
on a panoramic view of the entire backyard (creates a sense of movement). The shape of the arc is reinforced by the
line of the perimeter fence.
The garden at 112 Willow demonstrates how hardscape
provides the backbone of the garden design.
It sets a tone that is semi-formal, helps to define several outdoor
rooms, provides a feeling of unity and leads the eye by creating a pleasing
line for the eye to follow. Even with no
plants in place, the hardscape creates an interesting landscape.
The gardeners next consider the plants for the
Butterfly Garden. Note that they are defining the characteristics of the
plants; their cultural, size and other characteristics. They are not
choosing specific plants at this stage.
The general plant characteristics reflect cultural conditions
particular to the site (light; soil; drainage; etc.) as well as the functional
and aesthetic standards that all plants must meet. Since this is a butterfly garden, all plants
must provide something (mostly food) for either adult or juvenile (larval)
butterflies. The gardeners have
learned that native plants are particularly good butterfly plants, so the
garden will emphasize California natives.
Native plants often have a somewhat informal natural
shape. While some native shrubs can be
pruned to quite formal shapes, many gardeners prefer a more natural look – tidy
but not too manicured. This also makes gardening easier, limiting pruning
to several times a year. The informal appearance
of native plants lends well to asymmetric balance. In the garden at 112 Willow Street, the
hardscape utilizes more formal, symmetrical balance, while the plants will be
balanced asymmetrically.
The easiest place to begin is the background layer. It features the largest plants - those most
difficult to place in a small garden. Because
their primary role is to provide a backdrop, they tend to have more simple
characteristics; but their size, both vertical and horizontal, is of critical
importance. As noted below, a background
plant will be given additional points if it has flowers/fruits (added value).
The gardeners now must place the background
plant(s) in space. In creating a rough
layout, they must consider both the horizontal (map or plan view) as well as
the vertical placement (elevation view). To maximize their limited space, the gardeners
decide to locate a single large shrub in the roomiest part of the Butterfly
Garden. They place an appropriately
sized circle on their map (below).
Now the gardeners consider the elevation view. First, they create a background elevation
plan/drawing. They can either draw it on
paper (to scale) or create it on the computer.
They can then use shapes or cut-outs of plants (paper or digital) that
can be moved around, allowing them to see how the design will look.
Our gardeners have access to PowerPoint and a
scanner, so they create their elevation
view digitally. They scan in a picture
of a fence (similar to the actual fence) and create a scaled elevation plan,
adding in the lawn (ground layer). Here’s how their elevation looks with the
hardscape in place. The perspective
isn’t perfect, but it’s fine for their purposes.
A quick look from the porch reminds the gardeners that
their background layer is more complex
than currently depicted. They add the
‘borrowed’ distant trees to their elevation plan. This now reflects what the
viewer will see when they admire the garden.
The background layer will include the perimeter
fence, ‘borrowed’ views and some medium to large (5-7 ft. tall) shrubs. This is fairly typical for a small garden. The gardeners add the large background shrub to
see how well it fits.
The large shrub counter-balances the distant trees,
forming a balanced background. In fact,
the Vegetable Garden (not shown) also adds weight to the right side of the
design. The gardeners will need to
consider this when they place additional
plants and accents (such as the birdbath).
In total, elements on the left side must have sufficient visual weight
to balance the Vegetable Garden.
The Butterfly Garden has limited space for
mid-ground plants. The California native
shrubs which will comprise most of the mid-ground are of two types: shrubs in
the 5-6 ft. diameter range, and smaller sub-shrubs/perennials in the 3-4 ft.
range. The gardeners decide to tackle
the larger shrubs first, as these will be more difficult to place. The garden can accommodate only 6 or 7 plants
with 5-6 ft diameters.
Because the mid-ground provides most of the
over-all ‘feel’ of the garden, our gardeners have considered the
characteristics of these plants carefully.
They will provide masses of foliage/floral color. They will likely provide much of the nectar
adult butterflies will use as food, so bloom season is an important
consideration.
The foliage will provide contrast with the
background and with other mid-ground plants. Fortunately, California native shrubs offer an
abundance of foliage characteristics. Because there is limited space, the plants
will need to be chosen carefully - but that’s next month’s task. Now the gardeners simply need to locate them
on the map.
Note how the gardeners grouped the plants, rather than
simply spreading them throughout the garden.
Another option, briefly considered, was to form a shrub hedge along the
perimeter fence. This was rejected
because the gardeners felt it would look ‘boring’. The informal groupings add just the right
amount of complexity to the design.
The garden will include a decorative birdbath. The gardeners need to decide on the actual piece
before they locate it in the mid-ground. They will place the birdbath where it provides
easy access for birds and viewing. But
they will also highlight its decorative features by proper placement.
The gardeners add the larger shrubs to their
elevation plan, using cutouts of representative plants. At this point, the
gardeners are creating a rough layout; they may need to fine-tune placement
once actual plant species are chosen. For
their representative plants, they choose examples with different foliage
characteristics and sizes to more closely represent how the garden will appear.
The gardeners have repeated two of the larger
mid-ground shrubs; one with medium green foliage and another that’s
grayer. Notice how the repetition adds
‘motion’ to landscape as your eye naturally moves from like to like. There is just enough variability to keep the
garden from being static (boring).
Given a limited number of plants, beginning
designers may be tempted to plant ‘one of each’ to increase the number of plant
species. When choosing mid-ground
plants, remember that repetition (mass planting) produces a better design. If you want to increase the number of species,
choose several with a similar overall appearance to give the illusion of
repetition.
The smaller sub-shrubs and perennials, with
diameters of 3-4 feet and heights from 2-5 feet, are appropriate as fillers in
the mid-ground. Some of the shorter
plants might also work as foreground species.
The smaller sub-shrubs and perennials will be an important source of
caterpillar food. In fact, this will be
a key attribute of the plants chosen.
Others will be selected because they bloom during off-season periods –
early spring and fall.
Smaller plants are relatively easy to locate once
the larger plants are in place (above). Notice
how quickly the space is filling up. The
gardeners will need to choose plants with the appropriate final (mature) diameters,
or they will end up with too many plants in their small space. Some trees and shrubs look small at planting
but quickly grow to impressive size. Over-planting
is a common mistake (particularly with California native plants). That’s a costly error the gardeners at 112
Willow St. want to avoid.
The current elevation looks pretty good. There is variability in height and other characteristics. The gardeners repeat several plants, using
the principle of repetition. All that’s
left is to add the foreground.
Our gardeners have taken the design principles to
heart. The foreground plants provide the
interest – color, seed-pods, seeds, scents – that is lacking in the other
layers. The foreground will likely
include some plants chose specifically as caterpillar food.
The foreground plants will complete the
garden. They will also serve as fillers
between the larger plants, particularly in the early days, when larger plants
have yet to reach their mature size.
The final elevation drawing gives the gardeners an idea of how their
mature garden will appear.
The gardeners at 122 Willow St. have accomplished a
great deal this month. Note the care
with which they’ve defined plant characteristics for each tier of the
garden. This work will pay off next
month when they select their plant species (Sept/2014). Instead of feeling overwhelmed, they will confidently
search for plants that meet specific criteria.
And we’ll introduce some great resources to help them in their
search.
The gardeners have also produced a draft layout
plan. This will be modified as the
actual plants are selected. But the basic
plan – the backbone of the final planting plan – is done. The
design looks good in both the map and elevation views.
Good luck in developing the Summaries of
Characteristics and draft layout plans for your own garden. Review your Garden
Notebook to refresh your memory about relevant site characteristics, family
needs/desires and hardscape choices.
Take the time to think, dream, and try out different arrangements. Sit in the garden, with the plans in hand, and
visualize your New California Garden.
See you back
next month.
We
value your comments (below). You can
also contact us directly at mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com.
