When you create or recreate your outdoor space, you want your landscape design to mimic your aesthetic, complement your home, and serve as a location for relaxation or entertainment or simple beauty. Here are some of the most powerful yet subtle ways to transform your patio, fire pit, yard, pool area, and beyond.
Observe the Five Senses of Landscape Design
Landscape design is a complementary blend of both art and science, as well as hardscape and softscape. Your outdoor area is a complete composition, and all features need to be considered so the result is harmonious. All elements are meant to blend into a continuous space of life and energy, drawing the eye in various directions and always landing harmoniously. Here is how observing the five senses make all the difference:
- Sounds: A trickling water wall or fountain, a pebble or paver path that crunches and clicks underfoot, greenery blowing softly in the wind.
- Scents: An array of flowering plants, bushes, and trees with a heavy or subtle aroma.
- Textures: The smoothness of plant leaves or river rocks, the roughness of a retaining wall, the sleekness of a water feature.
- Sights: Multiple shades of green for grass, shrubs, trees, and potted plants, or a rainbow of flowers that draw butterflies or bees.
- Taste: Unless fruit trees are on the menu, taste comes in the form of feeding yourself and guests through a fire pit or outdoor kitchen.
By honoring line and form, weight and scale, proportion and repetition, your outdoor space will feel unified and balanced. It should feel good to simply step into the space and spend time there.
Combine Natural and Manmade Elements
The selection and placement of elements in your landscape design is strategic and akin to the development of an art canvas. Layers build upon layers for a lush, rich, attractive space that is cohesive in color and placement. Success is found by combining the following elements:
- Landscape construction: The editing of space to improve functionality. This might mean improving draining, flattening land, or installing features like a patio, sidewalk, or greenery.
- Hardscape: The hard materials that don’t move once installed. This can include a patio, fire pit, retaining wall, seat wall, or outdoor kitchen.
- Softscape: The soft live materials that grow and bloom. This includes trees, flowers, and shrubs that may change with the seasons, need regular maintenance, or grow wild.
Hire the Right Landscape Designers
The biggest key to getting the look you want for the landscape design of your outdoor space is to hire experienced and reliable professionals. Schedule a consultation with the designers at Visionary Landscaping in Shelby Township, MI, to discuss your project, watch your ideas come to life in 3D, and create a plan that suits your budget, lifestyle, and vision.
