How to create a beautiful landscaped place, from a blank canvas
When setting out to landscape a place, a good approach is to begin with a spider diagram, or a mood board, to lay out your ideas so they are accessible. It is essential to consider what the space is to be used for, what its primary function will be, and what features it needs to have that lend it to its function. Is the space decorative, or does it have some other purpose? An example of a space that might be landscaped, is a wild garden in a park, serving the dual purpose of attracting families with children to play, and providing habitats for wildlife such as bees, spiders, and other bugs found on the ground of in woodland, squirrels, and nesting birds.
Determine what your focal points will be, and how to guide attention to them
- In landscaping, symmetry and asymmetry can be produced either to draw the attention of someone inhabiting the landscape, or to divert it away
- If your new landscape is to be established around a door or entrance, soft landscaping features such as tree avenues can lead a person’s attention onwards. Similarly, in the wild garden example suggested above, it might be desirable to create the effect of enticing people into a wildlife garden. A winding path, lined with strategically placed shrubs that are eye-catching, could serve this purpose.
- Asymmetry might be more desirable than symmetry. If the focus is to be on the garden itself, for example, then the plants within it are themselves the focal point and you do not want to divert the attention of someone inhabiting the landscape elsewhere. Plants with eye-catching foliage might be arranged in an asymmetrical design resembling nature, to attract someone’s attention to them in their own right and encourage a person to lose him or herself within the landscape.
This blog contains more interesting ideas about how features of landscaping can be used to command attention.
Does your landscape need to provide habitats?
- Consider the structure of your landscaping. Are there hiding places for every sort of wildlife? Birds always prefer trees and shrubs to large expanses of lawn
- Are there flowers that allow bees access for pollination? Heavily hybridised types of plants, are often so restrictive in shape that they may not always be accessible to critters. Think wild meadows, and favour the use of plants such as foxgloves, cornflowers or varieties of poppies.
- If your landscape is formal and contains a lot of hard solid features, for example, walls or benches, why not place pockets in the wall that are ideally suited for nesting
For guidelines and hints on how to ensure your yard, landscaped park or square can attract nesting birds, please seek information here.
Visit idverde for more information on how a created landscape can nurture biodiversity by being especially constructed.
