Unknown to most , landscaping is an art. It is the interesting art of designing gardens. As an art, it therefore follows basic principles that help bring out the best in the creator and the design. And one of the often overlooked principles in landscape design is simplicity. It is also a principle in all forms of art, not only in design. The idea is to just keep the landscaping design as simple as possible.
Keeping the landscaping design simple doesn’t mean that it will no longer have form or life in it. Other principles like balance, proportion, repetition, and form are also taken into consideration.
A simple landscape design during its initial stages will put things in perspective. Adding too much different elements into the design would make it look too unprofessional. You can then add more to the design later.
What you can do is choose a good plant and different variations of color. This is generally the sort of problem for home landscapers due to the fact that there is a vast plant variety. Some would even just pick out different types of plants to be included in the design. This leads to an imbalance in the landscape.
Some home gardeners have little idea about landscaping plants. Some are familiar with a thing or two about what would look good in the landscape. The best place to be familiar in choosing a good plant would be to observe other designs. Unknown to others, a simple selection of varieties and putting them in a pattern through the garden will have more impact than getting a wide selection of unrelated plants. A selection of two to three varieties of plants, colors, and shades and having them repeated throughout the landscape will do the trick. Repetition is a landscape design principle that is quite easy to follow.
Another trick worth trying is building borders and even some few beds using several varying shades but of the same color. An interesting contrast in texture can be obtained if you employ the trick with three or more species of your garden plants. Like repetition, contrast in texture and in color is a basic principle in art and design.
People into landscaping tend to forget that the landscape is not just about their trees and their plants. Other nonliving components of the garden should be taken into consideration in the design and planning to keep its balance. Plants, trees, and even animals in the garden should likewise look good together with the paths, walls, rockery, and paths and vice versa.
Keeping your garden simple also entails refraining yourself from being faddish. Additional faddish designs should always be minor so it could easily be changed when it becomes outdated. Remember that it is better to make great use of your space than to fill it up with just trendy features. Your garden landscaping must be great to look at in all the four seasons of the year. You don’t intend to worry about making a lot of changes every time the weather changes.
These principles are applicable to all your landscaping stages and designs. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about your backyard landscaping, your front yard; nor is it just limited to some of your plantings. Taking note of them will bring you and your garden a long way. Landscaping at its best should always be kept simple at the beginning stages. This will be much easier to handle and much easier to design. Adding more accessories late will always be exciting. A nice landscape or a good garden definitely glows of simplicity—and eventually, beauty.