Many professional versions are photographed from one angle, their best side. A truly beautiful model, however, will look great from any angle. Similarly, a number of our gardens were created, usually unintentionally, to look good from one vantage point. If it’s a front lawn, that vantage point is traditionally the street. If it’s a backyard, that spot is most likely the back door, patio or deck. We all have spots in our gardens that leave us less than satisfied, needing more. At some stage it’s time for a makeover.
Many years back I got a question from a homeowner having an undeveloped backyard that sloped radically toward the lake. The challenging thing about this project was that the backyard was seen from a number of different angles. There were just two loggias, one on the first floor and one on the second, and a view toward the home from the lake, and ultimately, a view from a sidewalk. Then there were the bull.
How was I to process all of this to a gorgeous, cohesive strategy? Perhaps your space is not this complicated but you know deep within that you have not yet tapped to its full potential. Here’s help in creating a garden area that looks good from any angle.
Huettl Landscape Architecture
Vary the heights. Engaging a dominant third dimension in your garden is a good way to add interest. Notice the heights of the planar surfaces here. This garden would shed much of its interest if all of the surfaces were on the exact same degree. It is strong enough today to command attention when seen from any angle.
D-CRAIN Design and Construction
Let’s think about this remarkable three-dimensional courtyard. The varying heights of the Cor-Ten steel planters add immeasurable interest. The reduced wooden decking, juxtaposed with the steel, provides continuity in color when adding textural interest. The upright sort of the succulents mimics the support beams on the home.
Gregory Lombardi Design
Add artwork. Another way to add multilevel interest would be to use appropriate artwork. This stone medallion is a centerpiece that looks great from any angle. If you are thinking about sculpture, make sure that its form and dimensions make a statement from every vantage point. A tall, thin sculpture, for example, would most likely look underscale and improper seen from above.
Adam Woodruff + Associates, Garden Artisans
Plant en masse. Now that we’ve discussed hardscaping, let us proceed to planting approaches. Mass plantings of the exact same or similar crops will most certainly have a positive influence in your garden when seen from above or at ground level.
Notice the gorgeous number of clumping and upright plants at the prairie-style garden here. An incredible amount of interest is produced on account of the appropriate and artistic usage of texture, shape and color. The serpentine hardscaping lines make a daring yet relaxing statement from ground level and would take on an artistic flair if seen from above.
PC Landscape Architects & Associates, Clinton
Mix textures and materials. The plan of the garden is relaxing and constant whilst including a variety of decorative grasses and Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, zones 4 to 9). The similarity of form and wide range of substance create cohesion and interest. With its serpentine bed lines, the garden pulls the eye through the space from every angle.
Arterra Landscape Architects
3 Garden Case Studies
1. The boardwalk that is metropolitan. This urban backyard is stuffed with interest from every viewpoint. Running the boardwalk at a diagonal to the fence has created unexpected interest that brings the attention and engages the viewer.
Arterra Landscape Architects
The identical garden is arguably much more interesting at ground level. The boardwalk brings the eye through the space, enticing the viewer to experience each vista. The mass plantings of blossoms from side to side bring much-needed softness and goodwill to this contemporary garden. The planar surfaces create the illusion of spaciousness.
Jay Sifford Garden Design
2. The woodland path. I live on a really wooded lot, together with front yard receiving the majority of the sunlight. My deck wraps around the front of my property, so this garden space is seen from the street, the lawn back toward the street and looking down from the deck.
I wanted a usable front lawn, so I made a serpentine, wider-than-normal pathway to a stacked-stone seating wall. Strong route lines define both the space and its own purpose. Because this garden was a clearing in the forest, I made the trail very wide; this damaging space allowed me to overflow the beds without making the space seem or feel overly busy. A narrower route would have felt immortal. Since the garden is casual by layout, I utilized repurposed railroad ties and gravel to split out terraces to provide the guest places to linger and revel in the space.
Repetition is a really useful concept to help a space sense homogenous and familiar. Here I used Japanese maples and chartreuse foliage across the pathway to create continuity.
Jay Sifford Garden Design
This second view is looking from the seating wall back toward the street. The challenge here would be to conceal views of the street and neighboring homes, since I wanted to get a level of solitude.
As I planted my trees and larger shrubs, I made sure they were just placed to conceal as lots of the undesirable viewpoints as possible. When siting trees and trees, always look at them from multiple viewpoints. Occasionally moving a plant 6 inches can make an immeasurable difference in the overall sense of a garden.
Jay Sifford Garden Design
The next view is looking down from the deck. Prominent lines specify the space, carving out a bold presence in the midst of the forest. With no lines that are notable, the space would uneventfully fade to the woodlands. Pops of chartreuse accentuate the space and cross over the path, whilst burgundy and blue foliage both stand up to the chartreuse and calm down it just enough.
Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture
3. The rill. Strongly defined lines provide the interest that brings the eye toward the focal point. Notice how the urn in the middle of the water feature mirrors the color and shape of the flagstone. By supplying this continuity, the designer has created an informal yet organized area.
Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture
This garden works just as well from ground level, providing continuity from one garden room to another. The color of the hardscaping and the flow of water from a focal point to some other guarantee a relaxing garden experience.